‘Every parent’s worst nightmare’
advice Trust your instincts!
A Cavan mother is urging parents to trust their parental intuition when it comes to their children as it could save their child’s life, writes Michelle Taite...
Vanessa Patterson issued the advice after an accident involving her son, Jamie (3), required emergency brain surgery.
“It was such a simple fall. If I didn’t get such a strong gut feeling, I nearly would have brushed it off. I do think it is important for other parents, if they have any doubt, not to second guess themselves and lift the phone and ring,” advises Vanessa.
On January 2 last Jamie was playing in his home when he tripped and fell, hitting his head on the tiled floor.
Like any loving mother, Vanessa immediately rushed to his side, picking him up and soothing him.
Satisfied the fall left no mark on her little boy, she set him back on the ground once he had calmed down.
However, moments later, Jamie approached her, arms outstretched saying “I want to get up on your knee.”
Vanessa heard these words thousands of times before, but something was different this time. “His words were slurred and his eyes were flickering,” she recalls. Motherly instinct immediately kicked in.
“I just jumped up and said ‘ring an ambulance straight away’.
“Thankfully to God I did but my feeling was just so, so strong, nobody could have talked me out of it,” recalls Vanessa.
First responders arrived at the Patterson home within 15 minutes, assessing Jamie. However they couldn’t find anything wrong with him.
“Jamie’s vitals were all checking out, there was no sign of anything when the paramedic crew arrived here,” recalls Vanessa.
As a precaution, Jamie was brought to Cavan General Hospital and, after a three-hour wait, a CT scan revealed he had a large bleed on his brain. The doctors immediately put him into an induced coma. He was then rushed to Temple Street Hospital in Dublin where he underwent emergency brain surgery.
“Everything was so time dependent, even the trip up to Temple Street in the ambulance. On the trip up to Dublin, his conditions started to change and the pupil in his right eye blew. It was really going in the wrong direction until he got surgery.”
Jamie’s surgery took about two and a half hours to complete.
“I don’t even know if there are words to describe it, it’s every parent’s worst nightmare,” continues Vanessa. “Everything was paused, you feel like you’re almost in a time warp I suppose, waiting for news and the worry that goes along with it.
“It really is like an outer body experience when a little child is not well like that. It’s definitely something that will take a long time to recover from, the shock of it and feeling powerless, but at the same time knowing he’s in good hands.”
Through the heartache and despair felt by Jamie’s parents as they waited for news, they were also flooded with messages of love.
“We had so much support from friends and family. There was a serious amount of people praying and doing rituals and sending up Padre Pio crosses. Nearly everything under the sun was done. We could really feel that when we were up there, the amount of love being sent his way. That helped myself and my husband get through those days.”
Jamie first entered hospital on Sunday, January 2 and was released five days later. His surgery went as planned and he stayed in the ICU for two days post-op. During the rest of his stay, doctors assessed him to make sure he had no signs of brain damage. The young boy also took his first steps.
“Once he woke up, he just started doing things bit by bit. We were waiting a few days to see if there was going to be any signs of brain damage after his surgery. He took his first steps on the third day, he was really wobbly and it was almost like he was learning it all over again but he was able to do it and there was no weakness on one side. It was all up to Jamie at that stage and he’s been a little trooper ever since.”
Since he has left the hospital, Jamie has been recovering wonderfully and mum Vanessa is extremely happy with the progress he has made.
“It’s hard to believe it’s only going back a few months but the recovery has just been outstanding. He’s flying. There’s no obvious signs of anything lasting so that’s why the emergency surgery and his outcome from that has just been spectacular because the alternative outcomes were dire.
“He is limited with some things he can do, he can’t be on a bouncy castle or go playing football, that kind of thing. We just need to mind it for another little while.”
Jamie celebrated his fourth birthday last Saturday surrounded by his friends and family at his superhero themed party. The theme recognised the strength of the young boy who fought so hard in the hospital, proving Jamie himself is his very own superhero!
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