TAYTE IN FIGHT OF HIS LIFE
COURAGEOUS little Tayte Crisafulli is battling back from devastating injuries after a quad bike accident.
Single mother Willow Howarth, of Ingham, has been at the side of six-year-old Tayte in Townsville Hospital since the freak accident on his grandfather’s farm in Lannercost on July 21.
“All we know is he’s got a brain injury, it’s not just one part, there are contusions all the way through,” she said.
“Doctors said that they (brain injuries) can sometimes rewire, sometimes they can’t, it’s part of the rehab journey.”
Life support had been turned off and the brave boy was fighting back.
“Because the brain stem controls the vital organs, it was one of the worries when he came off the ventilator it wouldn’t send the right signals but his brain and his brain stem are sending the right signals to his heart, his lungs,” Ms Howarth said.
“He’s breathing on his own, his heart’s doing good – he’s still quite sedated, the brain needs a lot of rest, he’s responding to voices he knows, like he responded to Kara (Fein) yesterday.”
Ms Fein is an occupational therapist in Ingham and a close family friend who has been treating Tayte for attention deficit disorder and sensory issues for two years.
The Our Lady of Lourdes primary school student has made notable improvements.
Ms Howarth, originally from Townsville, said unfortunately there were fears the gains would be lost.
“They kind of called it a domino effect, they called the contusions like ‘sprinkles through the brain’, there are lots of tiny little ones and that is why they can’t tell us what he’s going to be like.”
She said Tayte’s four-yearold brother Lyrik had also been on the quad bike when it collided with the base of a water tower.
He had recovered from the friction burns he sustained in the accident, sitting between and cushioned by his grandfather, who suffered head injuries but who has recovered, and his brother.
“He’s got an understanding that Tayte is sleeping and he needs to be with the doctor and mummy needs to be with him to help him get better,” she said.
Lyrik celebrated his fourth birthday at Ronald Mcdonald House with staff, family and friend Aliesha Schatowski, who has been sharing Ms Howarth’s bedside vigil.
The family is living in one of the charity’s self-contained units across the road from the hospital, and committed to helping when they were eventually transferred to Brisbane for rehabilitation.
Ms Howarth said the accident happened in a flash when Tayte accidentally knocked the throttle.
“After speaking to the doctors, no helmet would have saved Tayte from what happened, it was the whiplash effect, because a helmet doesn’t protect the brain stem from that motion,” she said.