“She passed me my son’s’ silver chain and said, ‘he’s in critical care. We need to get you to the hospital’.”
Liza Evans was sitting at her home in Thornhill on Friday 10 October at 7.45pm when blue flashing lights sped into her street, followed by a police officer knocking on her door.
Alfie, her 17-year-old son, had fallen from the roof of an empty building in Cwmbran, and his condition was critical.
He’s still in hospital with Liza, her partner (Alfie’s dad) Martin Smith, and their other son, Caleb Smith, 17, regularly at his bedside.
A family friend has set up a GoFundMe page to help the family (who don’t drive) get back and forth to the hospital, cover food and living expenses while at his bedside, and help with any possible future costs when the teenager is finally allowed home.
Support the family
You can support the family through this GoFundMe page https://gofund.me/d7ca4ae6c
Liza said: “The police rushed us to the Heath. Nothing prepares you for walking into resus and seeing your son in an induced coma. We thought that was bad. Then they transferred us to critical care.
“They put us in a relative room. We were expecting to be told he’d gone.”
Alfie was on a ventilator and had a bolt inserted in his head to measure brain pressure. A consultant told his family he’d suffered severe injuries, including three cranial fractures, frontal lobe bruising and “like a clingfilm of blood over his brain.”
‘Ventilator’
Liza said: “He was hooked up to everything. It was horrendous. [We were told] if he starts seizing, we’re going to have to put him back on a ventilator.
“It’s been harrowing. We are six weeks post-traumatic brain injury on Friday.
“People say, ‘why are you counting the weeks?’ When you’re faced with your child hooked up to multiple machines, we were going minute by minute, then hour by hour, then day by day [and now week by week]. We could have lost our son on 10 October.
“He’s very lucky he’s here. It’s been hell, absolute hell.”
Liza and Martin were offered accommodation with the Ronald McDonald House Charity- and stayed there for four weeks. This was just “one minute 35 seconds” from Alfie’s bedside.
Alfie was transferred to Llandough Rehabilitation Centre towards the end of his fifth week.
She said it was important that parents talk to their children, as they had no idea he was exploring an empty building. They were told he had fallen between “18 to 24 metres”.
Liza said: “We nearly lost our son if it wasn’t for our son going through a skylight and [hitting] pipes on his way down.”
Seizures
Alfie has suffered several seizures and had to be sedated, but Liza has seen “positive signs.”
She said: “He’s a fighter, he’s been fighting since he went in. He squeezed my hand on my birthday on 17 October.
“Alfie gave me the best gift by squeezing my hand and opening his eyes for two minutes.”
Liza said: “It was heartbreaking seeing him come around and the look of fear on his face when he opened his eyes. He didn’t open them long. He opened them for just under two minutes, and the look of fear in his eyes, was like ‘oh my god’. He didn’t recognise me and dad when he properly opened them. It was just harrowing. [But] he’s making good strides.”
Alfie turned 17 on 30 October. He’s now opening his eyes and talking regularly, but his parents help “interpret” his words for others to understand. The fall has affected his memory and he can’t recall what happened on 10 October.
Recovery
Alfie has started a range of treatments to aid his recovery; physiotherapy, psychology therapy, aquatherapy, and speech and language therapy, to, as his mum says, “get him back to our Alfie boy.”
She said: “When I close my eyes, when Martin closes his eyes, we hear him screaming. I never want to go through something like this. It’s just been a rollercoaster of emotions, and now he’s been moved to Llandough, me and his dad can’t see him as much.”
If he can’t be home for 25 December, they plan to hold a Christmas Day for Alfie when he’s well enough to return home.
She said: “They’d love to get him home for Christmas Day, and then back to the ward in the evening, but whatever happens, we’ve got the best gift of having our son still with us.”
“We’re getting there, both me and Alfie’s dad have lost weight. We forget to eat. It feels alien to be at home after weeks at his bedside. It’s horrible.”