Young driver still unconscious almost four months after crash

22-year-old left with severe brain damage after September accident How you can help

A mother says her heart breaks everyday when she visits her son, who has not woken up after suffering brain damage in a crash.

Aaron Wicks, 22, was driving home in torrential rain from Ashford to Romney Marsh when the accident happened on Ashford Road, near the old ironworks, on Saturday, September 17.

It is not known what caused his car to aquaplane into the path of an oncoming vehicle, but CCTV reviewed by police apparently shows the car hitting a drain cover.

He was driving a black Mazda MX-5 to his Clark Road home in Greatstone, Romney Marsh.

An 84-year-old man who was driving a Ford Focus C-Max escaped with minor cuts.

Mr Wicks and his girlfriend of three years, Abbie Newing, were both seriously injured.

Miss Newing, 21, had various broken bones, but Mr Wicks sustained a major head injury, which doctors say caused “severe” brain damage.

Mr Wicks, a former lifeguard at the Stour Centre, in Ashford, has remained at King’s College Hospital in London ever since and he was in a coma for more than a month.

Mother Dawn Wicks, 49, said: “He can open his eyes but he doesn’t know we are there.

“The doctors say he has suffered severe brain damage but every person is different. It is a waiting game.”

She says Mr Wicks has minimal consciousness, which means he appears to be awake but cannot interact with people or move. It is not known whether he will ever properly wake up.

‘Half of me has been ripped out. It has been horrible’

A fundraising page has been launched online to raise money for the family, who have spent more than £1,000 on train fares.

Mr Wicks is seen by his parents every other day, and his girlfriend, Abbie Newing, goes to see him once a week.

The page has generated more

Other family members, including dad Ian and sister Kim, go up to see him regularly – including over the Christmas period and his 22nd birthday on Tuesday.

They have to pay for a return train ticket each time, which Mrs Wicks said has been difficult.

She added: “I used to go up there daily. I have had to borrow money and people have donated money so we hopefully have that to help Aaron.

“The more stimulation he gets the better chance he has got.

“My husband is so upset. He works for himself and a lot of the time he struggles to get to work. We have a than £2,400, which could be used towards after-care and travel expenses. A total of 87 people have pledged money.

To donate, visit justgiving.com/ crowdfunding/lee-ambridge-1 mortgage and I was in the process of looking for another job.”

Mr Wicks, a former pupil at Swadelands School, Lenham, and Canterbury College, has been described as perfect and loving by his mum. “I miss him so much,” she said. “Half of me has been ripped out. It has been horrible. We try and carry on for the grandchildren but it is hard.

“We don’t feel like doing anything. With everything we ask ‘what is the point without Aaron?’

“My children have always been my world. It is so hard looking at him like that in hospital. It breaks my heart everyday.”