All Black visit helps lift boy’s spirits after cliff fall
An 11-year-old boy who plummeted 30 metres down a cliff face about two weeks ago has been visited in hospital by one of his sporting heroes.
All Blacks and Crusaders midfielder Braydon Ennor stopped in at Caleb Clarke’s bedside in Christchurch Hospital yesterday afternoon – mum Kylie Rate saying not even his longawaited hospital discharge the next day could surpass his excitement at meeting the rugby star.
‘‘Sport is a huge, huge thing for Caleb. His coaches in softball and soccer were sad that he won’t be able to play this year,’’ Rate said.
‘‘Just like Caleb, Braydon is out of play for a year [after busting his knee]. It’s good for Caleb to have someone who can tell him it’s going to be OK, that he’ll soon be up running stronger.’’
Rate said her son was recovering in ‘‘little steps’’ after slipping and falling during a walk through Orari Gorge, smacking into a rock before tumbling into the water on January 11.
Caleb’s stepfather, Michael Rate, rushed down the hill and pulled him out of the water. Carrying the young boy on his shoulder, he called emergency services as he headed for Geraldine’s main road.
A helicopter transported Caleb to Christchurch, where he was taken to intensive care and underwent surgery to reconstruct his mouth after the impact forced a tooth into his nose.
He also broke his nose, fractured his skull and eye, suffered three brain bleeds, and damaged his knee in the fall.
‘‘It’s incredible he didn’t break anything else,’’ Rate said.
Caleb was moved from intensive care to the children’s surgical ward about a week ago, she said.
‘‘He’s doing so well. Every day, there’s more and more progress.’’
It was hard keeping the young boy occupied as he struggled to tolerate light or loud noises, Rate said.
‘‘He can do an activity for no longer than 15 minutes, then we have to make sure he lays down. He’s feeling a lot better, but it’s just trying to get him to rest because he doesn’t realise what a knock he’s really had.’’
Caleb, who still relies on a wheelchair, would be undergoing rehabilitation in either Christchurch or Timaru after returning home to Geraldine today.
‘‘He can walk little bits at a time. We try and make him go further and further each time,’’ Rate said.
‘‘It’s going to be a wee while before things get back to normal.’’
Caleb was ‘‘super excited’’ about going back home but his mother was ‘‘a bit more anxious’’, she and her husband having been given guidance about what to do if there were any issues.
‘‘I’ll be on the alert at all times and because he can’t do normal things, it’s going to be quite testing for him,’’ Rate said.
‘‘I’d like to stay here [in hospital] for longer, which the doctors have no problem with – but they say when you’re in your own environment, you feel a bit more comfortable and it helps with recovery.’’
Rate appreciated the ‘‘incredible kindness’’ Kiwis had shown the family in their hour of need, including by donating more than $6500 to a Givealittle page set up to help support them while they concentrated on Caleb’s recovery.