Help Miles recover from an acquired brain injury

Hey everyone,

As some of you are aware, our good friend Miles collapsed at home and had a brain aneurysm in March 2021, which now means he has an acquired brain injury. Miles spent over a month in a coma and was non responsive. The initial outlook did not look good at all and the medical team in Southampton did not hold out much hope for him. Miles had a large amount of fluid on his brain so the team had to perform a major operation to try and fix the issue. After the operation and against all the odds, Miles began to show signs of life and awoke from his coma. He began to open his eyes but was not responsive to any commands and was unable to talk or breathe on his own. Miles then had to go under the knife again, this time to assist with his breathing and had a tracheostomy inserted in his throat. Miles has been bed bound and unable to move ever since.

As the weeks progressed Miles slowly began to show more signs of life and began to follow people with his eyes. Unfortunately, due to Covid, he was only allowed one visitor a week for just an hour. His Mum visited him every Sunday whilst the rest of us were only able to talk to him via a zoom call. We called as often as we could to try and keep him stimulated and so he could hopefully hear voices he recognised and see faces he knew. We also got a phone to him with some music on so try and keep him entertained and stimulated; Miles is an extremely talented guitarist and a few weeks before his injury he bought himself a 7 string guitar! Progress continued but it was very slow.

Eventually, as there was no more they could do for him, Miles was transferred from Southampton hospital to a ward in Salisbury hospital. Fortunately, the visiting restrictions at Salisbury were more relaxed than at Southampton and we were finally able to visit him! Only one visitor a day for an hour at a time but at least he could see us properly. Miles continued to progress and eventually started to try and vocalise! It was very difficult to understand what he was saying but he was able to answer questions with a yes or a no and he would follow us with his eyes. Eventually he began to string words together and definitely wanted to talk. Miles' breathing improved. He was no longer on a ventilator and they decided to remove his trachy; it started to feel like we were getting somewhere towards getting our wonderful friend back.

A few weeks ago we got the news that Miles was struggling with his breathing and they were concerned about further fluid on his brain, and he was transferred back to intensive care in Southampton. The shunt that had been inserted was kinked and another one needed to be inserted to enable the other fluid to be drained off. Not the news we were hoping for. Again, only Miles' family were able to visit so it was back to the virtual visiting. 

Then all of a sudden we got a message from Miles' uncle - Miles' Mum and his uncle had just had a great visit with him and he was in good spirits and talking! We couldn't believe it. It seemed the recent surgery had really made a difference. I had a video call with Miles that evening and got throughly over excited to be able to talk to my friend properly for the first time in months. He was able to recognise me and talk to me but was still unable to move. He was able to tell me that he did not remember anything since he fell in to a coma. He doesn't remember collapsing, waking up, any of our visits or anything up until he became much more responsive about a week ago. 

The staff at Southampton and Salisbury hospitals have done great work looking after Miles, but he has a long road ahead of him. He can't do it alone and is going to need our help.

We don't know how much Miles will progress from this point forward, but what we do know is that NHS rehabilitation is not indefinite. He may need further private rehabilitation once he is discharged from hospital. It is pretty much certain that Miles will be unable to return to his current family home in Salisbury. If he is able to live in some way independently he may need adaptations to his home, specialist equipment such as wheelchairs or a wheelchair an accessible vehicle. We need to ensure that Miles is given the opportunity to live a life that is meaningful to him, not just that his basic care needs are met. He will be 35 in July so hopefully has a long life ahead of him. All of this will cost money that Miles does not have. Private rehabilitation in particular can be hugely expensive. But if it is what Miles needs then he should be able to access it.

So, here is where you come in. We would really like your help in raising some funds to assist Miles, and his family, on the road to recovery and make it as smooth as we possibly can. Lets provide him with the opportunity to recover as much as possible, without the worry of how he will manage once leaving hospital. Right now he needs the help of his friends and the wider community now more than ever.

What do you think? Spare a quid? Spare a fiver? Anything you can give would be absolutely amazing. And please share this page on your socials!