Step by Step - Help Mason Walk Again

Last year on November 4th, our lives were turned upside down.

Mason, our 13-year-old firstborn, has always been sensible, mature, and level-headed. He had never caused us a day of trouble – the perfect son. Mason was maturing into a young man that any parent would be proud of. He was surrounded by a great group of friends, excelling at the top of his class, and he had even taken on a paper round to earn some extra money. We were amazed that our 13-year-old had a job and was finding his own way in the world. And then, everything changed.

After a family night out watching fireworks, Mason began to complain of chest pain and weakness in his legs. He tried to stand but he couldn't - his legs seemed to be paralysed and they couldn’t take his weight.

Panicked, we called 999 and Mason was transferred by ambulance to Royal Berks hospital. We spent the night in the high dependency unit and were told that he may lose the ability to breathe overnight. That time was the most worrying of our lives and it was touch and go as to whether he would make it through the night. A terrifying, living nightmare.

The following morning, he was urgently transferred to John Radcliffe hospital with flashing blue lights where we were met by a barrage of specialists, but no answers as to what was wrong with our little boy.

The hospital became our new home for the next 7 weeks and following many invasive tests including multiple MRI’s, lumbar punctures, CT scans, ECG’s, daily blood tests and plasma exchanges, we received the devastating news that this was not just a virus that was causing Mason’s paralysis, it was a rare and random spinal stroke that would affect him for life and to which there was no cure.

Mason might never walk again.

We were completely overwhelmed with worry for Mason. Crushed with fear for his future. What will all aspects of life look like for him? As his parents, we tried to stay strong, but as you can imagine and faced with so many unknowns, it was hard to keep it together all of the time. We sobbed at his bedside, heartbroken.

Mason blew us away with his courage and strength. He often said, "Pull yourselves together, Mum and Dad." When our thoughts were in the darkest places, Mason's positive demeanour was infectious. Despite the many tears, we still managed to share many laughs in our new reality.

Following the amazing services at John Radcliffe Hospital, we were transferred to Stoke Mandeville’s spinal unit for a further 8 weeks. The physiotherapy and rehabilitation Mason received there were outstanding and introduced us to a new spinal injury community. We will forever be grateful to the NHS for helping us with this part of our journey.

Now, we find ourselves back at home, managing our four children, work, and Mason's new reality. Whilst his friends play basketball, he sits on the sidelines. His paper round has been taken over by someone who can ride a bike. Returning to school is an emotional rollercoaster with physical and mental challenges every day. Through hard work, resilience Mason can now walk short distances with the use of mobility aids. We would love this trajectory to continue.

There is sadly no more physio available on the NHS.

There is no cure for what has happened to Mason, the best chance of seeing any notable recovery is through intensive rehab.

The highest rate of recovery for spinal injuries comes with maximum exposure to physiotherapy in the first two years. We need to approach this window with everything we have.

We are hoping to raise funds to give Mason 2 x specialist neuro-physiotherapy sessions per week for as long as possible, giving him the best opportunity to regain as much of his old self as we can .

There are constantly new advancements for spinal cord injury patients, and we’re eager to explore these options for Mason, with Bioness mobility at the top of our list. We also hope to acquire some adapted equipment to help him return to his usual activities.

Thank you for reading our story. We hope you can help us give Mason the chance to walk again.