Head injuries in children are tricky; they don’t have yet the necessary skills to properly communicate their discomfort.
Little children getting into accidents can neither be prevented nor predicted; the only thing parents can do to make sure their children are safe is to give them an extra layer of protection—something mum Kim now wishes she did.
In her Facebook post, which has now accrued 5k shares, she recalls the moment her son Liam fell from his scooter and bumped his head hard on a path.
What followed it was one of the most harrowing moments in her life.
“A lump appeared on the back of his head straight away…he was dazed and floppy when I tried to pick him up,” she says.
Liam managed to walk back to the car after telling Kim to get off him and not to touch him.
“I called 111 when we got in for advice and was given a list of things to look for should he get worse and to call 999 if he showed any signs [of head injury that] they listed.”
At 7pm that night, Liam showed one of the signs listed, and so they went to the hospital to have him observed for 6 hours.
“They said no need to scan as he isn’t being sick now and kids are always bumping their heads!! We went home.
“The next day, Wednesday he was fine! Playing eating and drinking fine on his electric car as nothing had happened. The bump on his head was gone.”
The day following that, everything changed. Liam woke up at 2 in the morning complaining of a headache. The hospital said to bring him in if he gets worse. He did.
Finally, a CT scan was ordered, and it revealed that Liam had a blood clot in his brain.
“It was like panic stations from there on we were taken straight to resuscitation,” Kim recalls. “There were 3 anaesthetists, 3 paediatricians, 2 neurologist doctors, and 5 nurses and 2 ambulance drivers on standby ready and waiting to take us to the 1st available hospital.”
At that point Liam was hysterical; he had had a cannula put in each hand and a cannula in his foot, with all these strangers around his bed.
When they finally found him a slot in one of the hospitals, they performed a head surgery called a craniotomy.
“Liam had the surgery at 9pm it was a 2-hour op, they cut into his muscle and cut and removed part of his skull to reach the blood clot and stitched it all back up again (in simple terms!)
“He was in intensive care overnight and for a day then moved to the neurology ward at 2.30pm once he was eating and drinking ok.. And they removed the drain from his head.”
By Sunday, the doctors started removing his tubes and wires, and once the cannulas have been removed, Liam was up and walking to the toy room. That afternoon, with the neurologist’s blessing, they took Liam home.
Although Liam’s incident ended on a happy note, Kim says other kids may not be so lucky.
That’s why she’s decided to share her story to encourage parents to force children to wear helmets whenever they’re on something from which they could fall.
“DON’T LEARN THE HARD WAY!!” Kim emphasises. “And, if you think your child isn’t right after a fall, DEMAND a CT scan.”
Signs and symptoms of a traumatic head injury
The tricky thing with brain injuries is that some of its symptoms can appear instantaneously, while sometimes days and weeks will pass before they manifest. Traumatic head injuries also have a wide range of physical and psychological effects.
It becomes even more complicated when such injuries happen to children; they don’t have yet the necessary skills to properly communicate their discomfort and pains.
According to Mayo Clinic, here are the signs and symptoms parents and guardians must observe if they suspect a child has suffered a head injury.
- Change in eating or nursing habits
- Persistent crying and inability to be consoled
- Unusual or easy irritability
- Change in ability to pay attention
- Change in sleep habits Sad or depressed mood
- Loss of interest in favourite toys or activities
When to call a doctor
“Always see your doctor if you or your child has received a blow to the head or body that concerns you or causes behavioural changes,” Mayo Clinic says. “Seek emergency medical care if there are any signs or symptoms of traumatic brain injury following a recent blow or other traumatic injuries to the head.”
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