My nephew Tristan took ill on the 18th of November 2017 and needed emergency brain surgery to save his life. His prognosis is as yet unclear but requires him to have long term clinical care. Please see Tristan’s full story below, please help if you can even if it’s just by sharing this link. https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/tristanttwo , if you find any of the images scary or shocking then you will have a slight understanding of what his parents are faced with, this is a parents worst nightmare come true!

Tristan is my 21 year old nephew (turned 21 on 9th December 2017), he was born in South Africa and lived in Abu Dhabi for 6 years with his mother (Michelle) and father (Neville). Tristan is a very loving child, a wonderful son and brother, he is adored by all his family and friends.

On Friday 17th November 2017 Tristan attended a party with his parents, they got home at 02:00 and retired to bed. At 10:00 on Saturday 18th November 2017 Neville phoned home (as he had taken Tristan's phone in to be repaired and needed some information) to speak to Tristan, Michelle tried to wake Tristan but he did not respond. The emergency services attended and confirmed that Tristan was unconscious and thus unresponsive. Blood glucose tests were done and his levels so low they did not register. Further investigations found him to be in a hypoglycaemic coma and in need of urgent life saving treatment.

Tristan was rushed to hospital and put on life saving machinery, All sorts of tests and scans were run and it was discovered that Tristan’s brain was swelling and that he needed an immediate “decompressive craniectomy“ to remove part of his skull to allow the brain space to expand and prevent any further damage.

On Wednesday 22nd November 2017 the neurologist informed Michelle and Neville that due to the lack of responsive progress after the last 5 days Tristan’s prognosis was unknown, but we have been informed that he is going to require long term clinical treatment, this treatment will need to be in a care facility as Tristan will need to be monitored 24 hours a day due to the seriousness of his condition and because he is hooked up to a mechanical ventilator.

The decision to try and raise funds for Tristan’s treatment has not been made lightly (thus why it has taken so long for me to start this request), unfortunately the seriousness of his condition forces me to make this difficult request to each of you. Please, please open your heart to Tristan and help me ensure he gets all the help and support he needs and that the cost of his treatment can be covered.

Update - day 15 (03 December 2017) - Tristan remains on life support and in surgery today he had a tracheostomy procedure, doctors hope that this will allow Tristan to be more comfortable as he will no longer have the ventilator pipe inserted through his mouth. Tristan will remain sedated in ICU for the foreseeable future until he can breath on his own.

Update - day 21 (09 December 2017) today Tristan turned 21 and its sad to say that he missed what should have been one of the best days of his life. Tristan remains on the ventilator, though he did mange to breath on his own for nearly 4 hours two days ago but then relapsed. He is now GCS 9 (GCS 3 when admitted 21 days ago). The new photo shows how much the swelling of his brain has reduced (the one above being post decompressive craniectomy procedure to remove the portion of skull). There is a lot of positives to be had from his progress, but not enough to get him off the machines that are keeping him alive.

Update - day 31 (19 December 2017) Today Tristan underwent surgery again, the procedure is called a “cranioplasty” and it was to replace the portion of skull bone that was removed on the 18th November 2017. Tristan is now back on the ICU ward, he remains on mechanical ventilation but has been taken off sedation. 🙏

Update 02 March 2018 - Tristan has spent his 102nd day in ICU and it’s been another good day, and this was his last day in ICU as tonight Tristan will be spending his 1st night in his new room at the Neuro Rehabilitation Centre.! That’s right folks, Tristan has this evening been moved to a rehabilitation centre 🙏

Tristan’s has won his battle to stay alive and now his journey to independence starts. The new facility will work with Tristan on all levels to increase his cognitive responses, his physical fitness and coordination and communication skills. There is hope that this new environment will encourage more positive progress and an overall improved sense of well-being within Tristan. However, this does not come cheap and Tristan’s insurance has once again refused to step up and provide the financial cover Tristan requires, therefore I have today renewed my appeal for your help.

Normal nutrition remains at 100ml/hour with additional supplements given twice a day and additional fluids via IV, Tristan is still able to manage this 🙏.

Supporters can get daily updates and follow Tristan’s progress on Instagram by following @tristan_t_two or by searching #tristanttwo