Warrior Devon - Defying Sudden Onset Brain Trauma

Easter Sunday weekend. Chocolate eggs, rabbits hunted for and found amongst the wonderful happy chaos of the average busy family home by three siblings named Devon, Truman and Robyn. The day was completely normal, playing with friends in the garden of their terrace enjoying the comforts of family time and Sunday dinner, but that all changed in the evening when Devon complained that she had a headache. What followed was every family’s worst nightmare.

In the early hours of 10th April 2023, our beautiful 11 year old niece Devon was admitted to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) of Manchester Children’s Hospital (MCH) following a bleed to her brain. She currently remains critically unwell.

Following several scans, it has been discovered that this bleed resulted from a congenital Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM) in her brain. Unfortunately, due to a lack of symptoms, the AVM had gone unnoticed until it presented these life-threatening symptoms.

Since being admitted to hospital Devon has been in a coma and undergone 4 major surgeries within 6 days including a craniectomy to save her life. She continues to remain critically unwell on PICU after being in a coma for 4 and a half weeks. Devon remains intubated at present. The medical teams are planning on doing a tracheostomy so she can still have help with her breathing as required. This is due to Devon's lung collapsing when they extubated her last week. Unfortunately, she was too weak to clear her lungs properly and had to be reintubated after 32 hours.

Her parents Christine and Gaz have been keeping vigil at her bedside since Devon was admitted and are currently residing in Ronald McDonald House at MCH. Their two younger children are being looked after by family members. They have been informed, they may have to wait several months before Devon’s next surgery which will involve sealing the AVM and reversing the craniectomy. During this time, she will remain in the hospital.

As a result, both parents are unable to work indefinitely so they can remain with Devon throughout her recovery, as they form part of her therapy. The timescale of which is currently unknown.

This situation will have extensive financial implications for Christine and Gaz as they need to continue to pay their bills whilst also funding additional living costs as they remain at Devon’s bedside. They also need to continue supporting their two younger children who are being looked after by the wider family network.

Whilst we are aware that Devon will need more surgery before her recovery can start properly, the road to recovery at this moment in time is completely unknown in terms of duration and what support Devon and her family will need in the future.

We have started this Go Fund Me page to help ease the financial burden for Christine and Gaz as they will be losing almost 2/3 of their monthly income due to not being able to work at this present time. It will also help reduce any emotional stress they may experience due to the cost of living and any future therapies etc that Devon may need to access to aid her rehabilitation and recovery.

Any donation, no matter how small, will make a difference in supporting Devon and her family throughout her recovery. We cannot express how grateful we are for any support you can provide, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for taking the time to read Devon’s story. We humbly ask that you share this link with family and friends far and wide. Together, we can give Devon the best possible chance at a full and happy life and get her home to her family and friends and back to doing the things she loves.

We will be using this page to provide any updates on Devon’s progress and recovery. Please feel free to also leave messages of love and support for the family on this page.