Mum left fighting for life baby’s birth due to brain
IT SHOULD have been an exciting and joyous time for Chris Case and his wife Alex as they celebrated the birth of their second child.
But just four weeks after their daughter was born, Alex’s life hung in the balance as she was airlifted to hospital for emergency treatment.
Little Ella was barely a month old when her mum suffered a subarachnoid brain haemorrhage, also known as a bleed on the brain.
She was rushed to the University Hospital of Wales, where a distraught Chris was told the next 24 hours in his wife’s battle for life were critical.
The family were told Alex would need clipping or coiling surgery within that time frame otherwise she was at risk of serious damage to her brain, or even worse, death.
But they didn’t have the expertise in Cardiff and Alex, from Penylan, Cardiff, was going to have to be airlifted to Southmead Hospital in Bristol.
“The hospital we were at didn’t have any radiologists so they couldn’t do the surgery,” recalled Chris.
“We were told we’d need to be transferred to another hospital, but they wouldn’t accept Alex until she’d had further scans and the scanning machine was broken where we were.
“I remember thinking ‘Are you kidding me?’ We sat for hours, waiting and pulling our hair out. Every hour that passed was more frightening.
“All I could think about was how I might lose Alex and have to bring up a two-year old child and four-week-old baby alone. My wife and my children are my whole world, so I was completely terrified.”
He added: “The clock was ticking on those 24 hours, and we just didn’t know how this was going to affect Alex. Would she survive the surgery? Would she be able to talk? Would she be able to walk?”
Alex had the life-saving surgery, but
she started to struggle with her shortterm memory, and every 30 minutes would forget where she was and what was happening.
During those weeks after the surgery, Chris spent most of the time in hospital at his wife’s bedside while their children were looked after by grandparents and their aunt.
“It was scary, but I was just glad Alex was alive, it felt like a miracle,” he said. “My in-laws were amazing. They moved into our house to look after the children, so we knew they were being cared for and that meant so much.”
Alex’s recovery was slow, but gradually the memory issues improved and aside from tiredness and occasional headaches, she made a remarkable recovery and was eventually well enough to return home.
Their children Jackson, two at the time, and Ella are now seven and five, and have no recollection of their mum being ill which is one of the many reasons why Chris and Alex are determined to help other people who have suffered a brain injury.
“It got me thinking,” says Chris. “What if Alex hadn’t been so lucky? We were talking one night about what had happened and how we could help others.
“During the long hospital stay, Alex spent a lot of time on the neurological ward and we could see just how lucky she had been, and how others are not so lucky.
“There was one particularly bad day for Alex and the doctor had come to see her. I stepped out of the room and saw a leaflet that had information about a local brain injury charity, Headway Cardiff and South East Wales.
“When Alex got out of hospital, we went to visit Headway and as soon as we saw the incredible work the charity does and the people it supports, we knew we wanted to do everything we could to help.”
Chris set himself a mission to do everything he could to improve the lives of brain injury survivors who had not been as fortunate as Alex, and the keen rugby
player with Rhiwbina RFC started by organising a black tie dinner.
That then resulted in organising charity matches, and since 2017 he has raised more than £60,000 for the charity.
Chris said: “During the aftermath of Alex’s brain injury, we received incredible support from my local rugby club, and it really demonstrated how the rugby community looks out for each other on and off the pitch.
“I wanted to do something that brought my love for rugby and passion to support people with brain injuries together, and so the Headway Cardiff Select XV charity rugby team was born.”
The team is made up of players from various Cardiff clubs, with the mission of raising money for Headway and raising awareness of concussion in sport.
The most recent game was held earlier this
month at Cardiff
Arms Park.
It is because of his fundraising efforts that Chris has been shortlisted for the Stephen McAleese Outstanding Contribution to Headway Award which is set to be presented in London next month.
Chris was nominated by Headway Cardiff and South East Wales’ chief executive Rebecca Pearce, who said: “Chris doesn’t do what he does for accolades but is driven by altruism and the satisfaction of knowing he’s made a difference and helped to improve the lives of people with acquired brain injury.
“We find it difficult to thank Chris appropriately for all he has done, but I think this award would mean a lot to him and his family.”