Luke, like most 19 year olds, was full of life, optimism, youthful invincibility and anticipation of what his future was going to hold. He was just about to start that journey at Strathclyde University when he had a serious road traffic accident in June 2016 which has left him with a severe traumatic brain injury.
He was in the Intensive Care Unit at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary for 30 days and then on the Neurophysiology ward for a further 6 months. His first 4 months were all about survival and his amazing desire to live. He fought off infection after infection and handled everything thrown at him with the incredible resilience and strength he has always had. He has now moved to a Brain Injury Rehabilitation Centre at Murdostoun Castle, where he is stable and happy. At the current time Luke is in a minimally conscious state and unable to communicate, but we can see Luke in his eyes and we know he is trying really hard every day to make the connections he needs to gain a consistent response that will allow him to communicate with us.
Luke will require care for the rest of his life and the wheelchair he needs to move around in, is of such a size, in order to support him properly, that a large specialist vehicle will be needed to get him out and about, once home, so he can continue to benefit from treatments such as physiotherapy, sensory rehabilitation and swimming at the local pool. Although he will get motability support this size of specially adapted vehicle also requires a large upfront payment. Like everything to do with this life changing situation, this is another expense that no one ever planned for. We are therefore really grateful for all the amazing fund raising events that are going on to help us, help Luke, have a better quality of life. Thank you for your support and donations. Luke's family x