A very merry Christmas for teen brain injury survivor
15-year-old Spike is looking forward to a very special Christmas at home this year, after spending much of 2021 recovering from a life-changing brain injury.
In April 2021, Spike fell headfirst into a wall in a skateboarding accident breaking his skull, cheekbone and eye socket and suffering serious damage to the right side of his brain. With a slim chance of survival, Spike was put into an induced coma at The Royal London Hospital where neurosurgeons and a maxillofacial team performed a lifesaving craniectomy.
Spike’s Mum, Carrie, says: “I remember hearing an air ambulance and sirens, and feeling a sense of dread. My phone rang but instead of Spike, I heard a police officer’s voice. My stomach immediately sank. I was taken to the hospital by an unmarked police car and on arrival had to sign the consent forms for the brain surgery – a full right side craniectomy to save Spike’s life. It was all a blur.”
When Spike woke up five days later, he was unable to eat, walk or talk. However, he slowly started to improve and after 13 weeks in hospital, two more operations and a full facial reconstruction, Spike was transferred to The Children’s Trust to undergo an intensive six-week rehabilitation placement to relearn the skills he had lost.
Spike’s rehabilitation programme included, Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Aquatic Therapy and Physiotherapy. Within three days of arriving at The Children’s Trust, Spike completed one of his rehabilitation goals – riding a bike outside in the sunshine. His memory improved and soon he was regaining his independence, slowly doing more tasks without needing help from therapists
Carrie adds: “It has certainly been a journey, especially with the COVID-19 restrictions that dictated several things during Spike’s recovery. However, we’re looking to the future with hope and Spike is even attending school in the mornings. Now, Christmas is around the corner and I couldn’t be more grateful to have Spike back home. It will be the perfect end to a very challenging year.”
ENDS
