DAMAGE CONTROL
At a moment’s notice, Royal Columbian tends to the most serious traumatic injuries
Harriet Ronaghan was an 18-year old South Surrey resident who loved ballet, graduated from high school and was preparing for college when her world changed. She was hospitalized for months at Royal Columbian Hospital with a significant brain injury after a severe collision between the vehicle in which she was a passenger and a dump truck.
The young woman’s head slammed repeatedly from the impact of the crash. She suffered a diffuse axonal injury, which is a common traumatic brain injury that can also be among the most devastating.
“Imagine your brain is on a stick, and all the fibres of the brain pass into the stick,” explains Royal Columbian neurosurgeon Dr. Navraj Heran. “If you twist the brain around that stick, the little pathways that go into that stick can tear.”
As one of two centres in the province that treat the most severe traumatic injuries, Royal Columbian Hospital is prepared at a moment’s notice to deliver critical care following major car crashes, terrible falls and other serious accidents and assaults. With more frequency than anywhere else in the province, air ambulances arrive at Royal Columbian directly from the scene of a trauma.
After being stabilized, Harriet remained
“We wanted to turn a terrible memory of a day into the happiest day of our lives,”
HARRIET RONAGHAN
in a coma in the hospital’s intensive care unit for more than three months. As she regained consciousness, Harriet had to relearn how to eat, talk, walk and care for herself.
While she continues to live with the effects of her injuries, Harriet is grateful to be alive and was married on the anniversary of the accident. “We wanted to turn a terrible memory of a day into the happiest day of our lives,” she says. “I was given less than a 5 percent chance to survive. I am very lucky to be here.”
Donors to Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation play a critical role in supporting trauma care. To donate, visit www.rchfoundation.com or call 604.520.4438