Our sons story

[watso]

in April 1996 our son at the age of 14 suffered a serious brain injury following a road traffic accident. A road traffic policeman's daughter ran her car into him and it was thought at the time it was going to be a fatality and so a police accident investigation took place! Our son survived thank goodness after dying three times and being revived in the ambulance on the way to hospital! We are very bitter about the circumstances because we know the driver was speeding and she was never, breathalysed or charged and the witness statements and police investigation files mysteriously disappeared ( police corruption ????)

Our son was in a coma for 11 weeks and in hospital a total of 15 weeks.... A very traumatic time for us all and he had to re learn everything!!

However after intense hard work from our son and ourselves he went on to to

gain 10 GCSEs and 3 A levels as well as a degree! He is an absolute miracle!

He is now married to our very caring and understanding Daughter in Law and he is working too which we never thought would be a possibility for him!

He continues to have many problems on a daily basis .... permanent double vision, right side hemaparesis, short term memory problems and organisational problems to name but a few but he continues to be a very positive wonderful son and we are so grateful he is still here with us!!!

For those people in the early stages of recovery be positive and enjoy lots of stimulation and physiotherapy and be patient!!! The brain does have amazing powers of recovery and we hope our story will help you through your tough times and you have a positive outcome!!! Keep strong!!!!

[Aelfwyn]

What an amazing and inspiring recovery. THank you for sharing your son's story and very best wishes to you all.

[Ettenna]

That gives hope to everyone who has a loved one with a head injury. My 18 year old is currently in HDU with a severe diffuse axonal head injury after crashing her car on 27th September. She had a craniotomy and at the moment her chances of regaining skills are slim. However, where here is life, here is hope. Thank you for sharing your story xxx

[watso in reply to Ettenna]

Be patient, it's a slow road with huge commitment from you all! A lot of stimulation and physiotherapy morning noon and night is certainly what helped our son!

I used to teach children with severe learning disabilities including acquired brain injury so I used to stimulate all our sons senses daily and we asked the physiotherapist if we could have constant access to the physio rehab room once he was out of his deep coma and we were in there all day! Use holistic therapies too, reflexology, reiki and massage, I'm sure they all played a part in our sons recovery! It was all so worth all the effort!

Make sure before you leave hospital you have the community team on board

(physiotherapists occupational therapists, speech therapists etc) they need to be aware of the level of input you have been providing as they need to make sure they continue to support you and give your daughter the necessary hours of treatment.

Our son continues to get 8 hours support each week from an organisation called Neuro Partners and they are invaluable! They offer him psychological and physical support in the form of a companion to accompany him shopping or to the cinema as well as a support to my son's wife, giving her a degree of respite and a listening ear! They have been a lifeline to us all!