The following are a few examples of our brave kids
and their families;
Recipient 1
Nicholas was 10 years old when we admitted him to hospital. He
was a lean, fit healthy boy who loved his sports and played
football (AFL), cricket and did Little Athletics. He was a happy
normal healthy kid, who fought with his sisters, played sport
rather than doing homework and delighted everyone with his
humorous antics.
After showing signs of a 24 hour virus, fever, nausea, headaches
and a sore stomach, Nicholas was eventually diagnosed with
encephalitis, with life threatening seizures, deep vein
thrombosis, pneumonia and cortical vision impairment. His
hospital stay was 42 Weeks and 6 days, 42 days of that stay was
in Intensive Care.
Nicholas was in a full barbiturate coma from 10 days and after
another 5 weeks he was slightly out of coma but remained muscle
relaxed and semi comatose for another 4 weeks.
Nicholas has been left with brain damage (ABI), is unable to see
due to cortical vision impairment, has mobility impairment and
requires assistance and a wheelchair. He has had approx 1300+
seizures since leaving hospital in July 2006 and Dec 2006 and
stops breathing requiring CPR by his mother and family and also
now has specially trained carers.
Nicholas’ mother has had to give up her job permanently and on
returning home from hospital after being assisted by Brainwave,
wrote the following;
“Had it not been for Brainwave, the
only children’s organisation to support children and families of
Acquired Brain Injury my family would not have eaten as well as
we did (healthy eating, not take-away) and we would not
have had a roof over our head to sleep in at night or day, which
was very close to the hospital vicinity to my son.”
Brainwave helped my family with for approx 18 weeks and I cannot
express strongly enough my appreciation and gratitude. The
support given to us by Brainwave alleviated additional financial
stress and made a huge difference to the whole family. Nicholas
is now able to commence rehabilitation at home on a treadmill.
Thanks again to the generosity of Brainwave. As a parent I value
the work Brainwave is doing.”
Lee - Mother of Nicholas
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Nicholas during his
stay in hospital |
Recipient 2
Alex was 10 when she had a stroke at school, while playing in
the playground. Many months of hospitalization and ongoing
physio has allowed Alex to go home, although wheelchair bound
for much of her day.
Brainwave was able to assist Alex and her family with a custom
made treadmill, so that the important rehabilitation could
continue at home without ongoing visits to the hospital.
Recipient 3
Jayden is a 10 year old boy and suffers from severe epilepsy. He
suffered his first seizure when he was just 3 years old. Since
then Jayden has endured up to 150 seizures a day and due to
their severity he spends one week in every four confined to a
wheelchair, unable to talk or walk and requires a feeding tube.
Jayden's mother writes; “In between these severe seizures we see
a glimpse of Jayden's true potential. These magic times are what
we fight so passionately for. While we remain hopeful and
positive for his future, the reality of Jayden’s life at the
moment is the need for constant care, significant support needs,
home modifications and intensive therapy. Jayden is such an
inspiration and we feel so blessed to have him in our lives. We
are so humbled and grateful for any support we receive to enable
us to give him the best chance at a happy and fulfilled life.
“We thank Brainwave for their
significant support and for being the only charity supporting
children and families afflicted with a brain disorder and
illnesses”
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Jayden with Santa at the
Brainwave
Christmas Party, Luna Park Sydney, 2006 |
Recipient 4
Kirrilee is a 10 year old girl who was admitted to hospital
following a prolonged seizure. An MRI of Kirrilee’s brain
revealed that Kirrilee had sustained a severe traumatic brain
injury, with diffuse pre-necrotic inflammation of the cerebral
cortex and cerebellum. A decompressive craniectomy was
performed.
Kirrilee’s brain injury has left her severely impaired. The
following is from a thankyou card from Kirrilee and her parents
to Brainwave:
“Dear Brainwave,
Thankyou ever so much for Kirrilee’s wheelchair. We had it
ordered in her favourite colour ‘orange’. As you probably
already know Kirrilee last year was a normal healthy nine
year old that suffered a dreadful severe brain injury with
the cause unknown, which left her very disabled. She’s the
3rd child of seven
children so there’s no way we could ever afford the
expense of a new wheelchair and the waiting period is very
long.
Thankyou so much for giving Kirrilee the best opportunity
to be comfortably seated and enabling us to get around
with her as a family. A good wheelchair is so important
for Kirrilee because it’s her legs and the postural
support is essential. As parents we naturally want the
best for Kirrilee and you have given that to her. Her
chair is very snazzy as well as practical, and suits all
her needs, and from the bottom of our hearts we thank you
for
helping us out, it’s a gift of amazing kindness.
Thankyou!!” |
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