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Our Tom
This story is about our dearest Tom, age 22, it is a parent’s worst nightmare, it was Saturday morning the 8th August 2015, we woke as normal and were ready to do the typical chores for the week-end. Tom’s car was not in the drive but he did say he would probably be staying at his girlfriend’s house on the Friday night as they had planned to go out for the evening as it was Sidmouth’s Folk Festival.
It was 9.30am in the morning when our other son Harry was on his way to Exeter and called to say there had been a terrible accident and the main road was closed, it was then when a little shudder came across and for some reason I thought hope Tom’s ok just mother’s instinct. Then Harry called again and said it’s Tom in the accident, I said don’t be silly he’s at Saski’s house. I rang 101 to find out and the Officer said there were two Police Officers on there way to us, no, no this cannot be true, they arrived that knock at the door I will never forget it’s a parent’s worst ordeal you can ever imagine, they came in and said that Tom had been assaulted by 4 lads and left in the road and was then struck by a car.
Tom was taken to Exeter Hospital then flown to Derriford as he suffered life threatening injuries, sever brain injury, broken neck, broken jaw, fractured fore ribs, fractured wrist and facial injuries. This happened at 4.00am but as Tom had no ID it was’nt till 10.30am that we were informed. Don’t remember much was in total shock and just wanted to go and see Tom. Tom had been in theatre for many hours and when we got to see him he was in the ICU unit on a life support machine with tubes and monitors everywhere. Tom spent his 22nd birthday on the 12th August in a coma.
It’s believed that Tom left his girlfriend and 1.00am and went to Exeter for some drinks with friends, he left his car in a side street has he had been drinking and decided to walk home, this is when this brutal and devastating attack took place. Four lads aged 21 to 23 have been interviewed for the assault on Tom, however it is very unlikely charges will be brought against them as “insufficient evidence” where is Justice, this has been devastating not only for Tom’s family but for friends and work colleagues.
In 2013 we moved house to a lovely idylic family home we settled in really quickly and all managed to find work locally. Tom finished his Carpentry course and became a self-employed Carpenter, he was so excited and enjoyed every minute of every working day, he saved for his own tools and transport.
Tom is such a loving, caring young man the last text I received from Tom was “Hi Mum sorry did’nt meet for lunch was very tired im at Saski’s tonight I will see you on Wednesday and I’ll take you and Dad to the Vanilla Pod restaurant love you lots x”
Tom loves his family so much and because of the financial loss we had he was always here to help. It was my birthday in July and bless him he brought me a Puppy as we had lost our dog Lulu in February she was 14. The Puppy was so gorgeous a little Fawn French bulldog and he named her Gabanna, brought her all the lovely bedding, feed bowls, pretty pink leads etc, he adored her although it was my prezzie it was his too, he had her hidden at his girlfriends house for a week prior to my birthday so he bonded with her really well. Unfortunately we lost our little girl Gabanna which was devastating for us all, especially Tom, he worshipped her.
The ICU team at Derriford have been amazing and have achieved a miracle by getting Tom through this first stage, we cannot thank them enough Tom is now recovering in the Neuro Ward in Exeter, he can now recognise us and manages to say a few words, he his still very poorly and at the moment with life threatening changes, Tom still cannot swallow he has no stability and has lost 4 stone in weight, because of the difficulty in swallowing Tom has had a PEG fitted in his tummy once he starts to gain weight he will hopefully go onto rehabilitation. The outcome of Tom’s brain injury is still unknown, the Consultants do not know and we all have to wait and take one step at a time.
As his family we are looking forward very much for Tom to come home and are hoping to raise money for special equipment and medical supervision that he will need and once he is ready hopefully a puppy of his own puppy.
This story is about our dearest Tom, age 22, it is a parent’s worst nightmare, it was Saturday morning the 8th August 2015, we woke as normal and were ready to do the typical chores for the week-end. Tom’s car was not in the drive but he did say he would probably be staying at his girlfriend’s house on the Friday night as they had planned to go out for the evening as it was Sidmouth’s Folk Festival.
It was 9.30am in the morning when our other son Harry was on his way to Exeter and called to say there had been a terrible accident and the main road was closed, it was then when a little shudder came across and for some reason I thought hope Tom’s ok just mother’s instinct. Then Harry called again and said it’s Tom in the accident, I said don’t be silly he’s at Saski’s house. I rang 101 to find out and the Officer said there were two Police Officers on there way to us, no, no this cannot be true, they arrived that knock at the door I will never forget it’s a parent’s worst ordeal you can ever imagine, they came in and said that Tom had been assaulted by 4 lads and left in the road and was then struck by a car.
Tom was taken to Exeter Hospital then flown to Derriford as he suffered life threatening injuries, sever brain injury, broken neck, broken jaw, fractured fore ribs, fractured wrist and facial injuries. This happened at 4.00am but as Tom had no ID it was’nt till 10.30am that we were informed. Don’t remember much was in total shock and just wanted to go and see Tom. Tom had been in theatre for many hours and when we got to see him he was in the ICU unit on a life support machine with tubes and monitors everywhere. Tom spent his 22nd birthday on the 12th August in a coma.
It’s believed that Tom left his girlfriend and 1.00am and went to Exeter for some drinks with friends, he left his car in a side street has he had been drinking and decided to walk home, this is when this brutal and devastating attack took place. Four lads aged 21 to 23 have been interviewed for the assault on Tom, however it is very unlikely charges will be brought against them as “insufficient evidence” where is Justice, this has been devastating not only for Tom’s family but for friends and work colleagues.
In 2013 we moved house to a lovely idylic family home we settled in really quickly and all managed to find work locally. Tom finished his Carpentry course and became a self-employed Carpenter, he was so excited and enjoyed every minute of every working day, he saved for his own tools and transport.
Tom is such a loving, caring young man the last text I received from Tom was “Hi Mum sorry did’nt meet for lunch was very tired im at Saski’s tonight I will see you on Wednesday and I’ll take you and Dad to the Vanilla Pod restaurant love you lots x”
Tom loves his family so much and because of the financial loss we had he was always here to help. It was my birthday in July and bless him he brought me a Puppy as we had lost our dog Lulu in February she was 14. The Puppy was so gorgeous a little Fawn French bulldog and he named her Gabanna, brought her all the lovely bedding, feed bowls, pretty pink leads etc, he adored her although it was my prezzie it was his too, he had her hidden at his girlfriends house for a week prior to my birthday so he bonded with her really well. Unfortunately we lost our little girl Gabanna which was devastating for us all, especially Tom, he worshipped her.
The ICU team at Derriford have been amazing and have achieved a miracle by getting Tom through this first stage, we cannot thank them enough Tom is now recovering in the Neuro Ward in Exeter, he can now recognise us and manages to say a few words, he his still very poorly and at the moment with life threatening changes, Tom still cannot swallow he has no stability and has lost 4 stone in weight, because of the difficulty in swallowing Tom has had a PEG fitted in his tummy once he starts to gain weight he will hopefully go onto rehabilitation. The outcome of Tom’s brain injury is still unknown, the Consultants do not know and we all have to wait and take one step at a time.
As his family we are looking forward very much for Tom to come home and are hoping to raise money for special equipment and medical supervision that he will need and once he is ready hopefully a puppy of his own puppy.
Organizer
BELINDA COE
Organizer