There are common difficulties for a child with an acquired brain injury. Often a person with a brain injury will suffer from fatigue, memory problems, difficulty with attention and concentration, executive skills; they could have a physical disability or have problems with socialising. Whilst, there are common problems, each brain injury is unique.
This unique experience extends to each family member as well. The Child Brain Injury Trust is dedicated to supporting the whole family. This year for Christmas we are asking you to support a sibling of a child with an acquired brain injury. With your help we will produce a book to help the injured child’s brother or sister come to terms with what has happened and some of the changes they may face.
Callum acquired his brain injury in August 2013. At the time he was 14 and was playing with his younger brother. Like many children, the boys were exploring and had climbed up into a tree. Unfortunately Callum fell out of the tree suffering multiple skull fractures, he broke and dislocated his back and ribs and broke his clavicle. On this day, Callum also acquired a catastrophic brain injury.
For three weeks after this, Callum was in intensive care fighting for his life. Whilst life was playing out in slow motion, Callum’s younger brother Kieran was also trying to come to terms with what had happened. Kieran was with his brother at the time and initially felt he was to blame for the accident. A couple of year on and Kieran is able to accept it was an accident, but when Callum was in intensive care this was hard to accept.
Whilst Callum was in intensive care the family were advised he might not make it. His younger brother was brought into the hospital at 4am to say goodbye. His mother Nicola explains: “We were advised that Callum would not make it to the morning and that Kieran had to come in if he was going to see him alive again… I cannot imagine how this must have been for him. I remember very little of that night”.
Thankfully Callum made a remarkable recovery. After coming out of ICU, spending 5 months in hospital and undergoing 7 operations, Callum was able to come home. Whilst he has peripheral vision loss, memory and cognitive issues, his mum comments: “he’s generally in good spirits and a happy teenager”.
As a Charity we focus on the whole family and when Callum was discharged from hospital it was not only the start of a new journey for him. Kieran also took on a new role. Once the younger brother, Kieran is now the bigger brother to Callum. His mum explains: “He makes sure that Callum is always ok and safe. And it is to Kieran we turn to now when we need one of the kids to be responsible”.
This is a common effect of brain injury on siblings. In a recent survey the Charity compiled; 52% of parents said their child has had to care for their sibling with an acquired brain injury.
Like many children, Kieran had lots of questions about his brother’s brain injury. Fortunately the family have been able to help Kieran understand what happened to Callum and with the help of their local family support worker the Charity can continue to provide support for the whole family.
This Charity Tuesday we are asking you to make a £5 donation. This donation will buy a book for a child like Kieran to help them understand their brother of sister’s acquired brain injury.
You can visit our campaign page to make your donation or text BOOK96 £5 to 70070 to fund a book for siblings.