Here his mum Amy describes how eight weeks at The Children’s Trust helped him smash all his rehab goals – including getting back on the Jiu Jitsu mat and walking into his school prom.
We’re just a typical family: two parents, two boys, and a dog. Before Jake’s injury, the boys were very independent. They would take themselves to school and to sports in the evening. His passion is Jiu Jitsu and as a family we follow Wycombe Wanderers. We’d go to away games together – that was our Saturday thing.
Back in January, Jake was embarking on his GCSE year. He suffered a couple of dizzy spells when he stood up, so we took him to the doctor. We were told it was blood pressure or low iron, but we booked an eye appointment just to get things checked.
On January 10th, the optician found pressure and swelling on Jake’s optic nerve. We were referred to Eye Casualty the next day and then got sent straight to the Children's A&E at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. They did an MRI and confirmed they could see a mass.
Immediate surgery to remove a brain tumour
At this point, less than 24 hours in, Jake was nil by mouth, cannula in, and we were blue lighted over to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. They were worried they were going to have to operate on him that night, but in the end they waited a few days. On January 15th, he had a craniotomy to remove a tumour on his cerebellum.
As a parent, it’s devastation. You want to take it away. It’s: ‘Why them? Take me.’ We were in a medical whirlwind. We were trying to work out what, why, how – but you don’t get those answers.
The surgery took 12 hours. A week later we were told it wasn’t cancer, which we’re very thankful for, but he did end up getting Posterior Fossa Syndrome which meant he lost the ability to talk, walk, eat and drink. In less than a week we’d gone from having a 15-year-old who was active, attending school and enjoying life, to losing all his basic skills.
Recovery and rehabilitation
After about four weeks, things began to return. He started a rehab programme at the hospital and by the end of March he was able to manoeuvre using a wheelchair. His speech returned – although he has Dysarthria which means it’s slurred when he gets tired. He’s also got Global Ataxia, so he has weakness on his left side.
Jake spent three months in hospital, then we had a few weeks at home before arriving at The Children’s Trust. Rachel, his physiotherapist, asked him why he wanted to come, and he said: “I want to walk into prom.”
It was eight weeks of pure hard work. The Children’s Trust is the whole package. He did physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, and occupational therapy every day. Once a week he would do hydrotherapy. He found an inner strength. When you thought he couldn’t have anything left in the tank, he found something.
Neurotechnology helps Jake accelerate towards his goals
Jake left hospital not being able to stand, but very quickly his balance and movement began to come back. He started to trial walking with a walker, then, with three weeks to go, Rachel put him on the anti-gravity running machine. It makes everything weightless, so your joints don’t have so much pressure on them.
He saw that machine and went: “Wow!” – he’d seen a lot of footballers use it and knew how their recoveries had been. They don’t use them for brain injuries, but it was a motivator. Rachel got him up to a very fast walk, if not a jog.
Some of the neurotechnology at The Children’s Trust is inspirational. It’s things you didn’t know existed. The Diego and Pablo helped to strengthen his left-sided weakness. It gave him back what he would deem as normality, so when he goes out for dinner there’s less of a worry about what he looks like because he can use both hands.
The Children’s Trust’s neurotechnology meant Jake made accelerated progress. It got him to his goals as quickly as possible, which was important to him because it built his confidence. He needed to feel success was happening.
Back on the Jiu Jitsu mat – and to prom!
A highlight was getting Jake back on the Jiu Jitsu mat. His Occupational Therapist Laura arranged for him to have a one-to-one session with a Jiu Jitsu black belt at her gym. Seeing him walk back on the mat in his bright pink gi (Jiu Jitsu uniform) looking like himself again was absolutely phenomenal.
Jake smashed every goal and more at The Children’s Trust. We left just over a week ago and Friday was the ultimate – he walked into prom. He held his head high and there he was with his friends, just looking like any teenage lad.
Jake’s school applied for exceptional circumstances for his GCSEs, so he will continue on to college in September, and the world is his oyster! When life can be so cruel, every child needs the opportunity to fight back.
"The Children’s Trust has given Jake the chance to lead the life he wants to lead. A few months back, I didn’t even know The Children’s Trust existed. Now we owe it everything." Amy
