A long road to recovery - Scott & Nakita

After a complicated pregnancy and the birth of their 4th child, weighing in at just under 5pd, Scott, was involved in a car accident after visiting his father in the hospital.

Late Sunday night the 23rd of July Scott was involved in a 1 vehicle car accident. He was air lifted to Hutt hospital intensive care unit where he had emergency surgery that lasted more than 12 hours. It was to repair a large number of fractures to his face and head. Blood tests showed zero alcohol or substances in his system and as he had no recollection of the accident it has been assumed that he fell asleep whilst driving.

He suffered a broken upper jaw, lower jaw, both eye sockets, forehead, and skull. These were all repaired with plates and screws during the initial surgery. He ruptured his right eye which was damaged beyond repair resulting in being blind in this eye. He also damaged his left eye and had some sight issues. He received a large cut from his ear over his eye to the opposite side of his forehead which was repaired with more than 60 stitches, as well as a large cut on his chin which had more than 20 stitches. He had broken his neck in two places. With no spinal effects. He was extremely lucky that it wasn't any worse!

On the 8th of August, he had major brain surgery that took 8hrs to repair more broken bones, place a bone graft and muscle graft on his forehead which was severely damaged during the accident. He was eventually discharged from hospital on the 11th of August.

After the initial treatment period above, the damage to his right eye started to look like it may actually heal with minimal long term effects. He was up walking and talking and had no other injuries other than a few bumps and bruises.

Then, on the morning of the 15th of August, he woke up and was bleeding from the surgical site on his forehead and was taken to hospital by ambulance. He had a CT scan which revealed not only a large collection of infected fluid across his forehead but also a brain bleed and pooling of blood on the brain. He was taken to Wellington hospital for emergency surgery which lasted more than 10 hours and repaired everything necessary.

As of 5th Sep, they have found more fluid collection by his bad eye and another leak of Cerebral Spinal Fluid. There is now the possibility of nerve damage in his foot and leg. Unfortunately, it has been determined that his right eye can not be saved and requires surgery to be removed in the next few weeks. His temperature has remained somewhat under control sitting at 38.1 rather than fluctuating. The base of his skull where his neck joins was broken but seems to have healed. He is due for an MRI and CT scan so we are now awaiting results.

As a result of the impact on his head, we have recently been advised that he has a frontal lobe brain injury which is affecting his memory and speech. It takes effort for him to form a sentence or to recall memories. Because of this, after being discharged from hospital he will be attending a rehab center to help regain his speech.

Any help would be greatly appreciated to relieve the family financially while struggling through this unsettling time.