On Friday 25th October 2019 little Matheus Luxton suffered every parents worst nightmare - an accidental, slow car roll over in their own home driveway. This energetic little 21 month old, with a mischievous character of darting quickly all over the place, found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time to the absolute despair and heartbreak of his doting mother Ambalika.

In the frantic hours that followed Matheus was treated by an amazing team of paramedics who went to great lengths to sustain him. He was transferred from Northern NSW via ambulance to Gold Coast University Hospital. Upon arrival at the hospital he was given the worst possible score for severe traumatic head injury. He was intubated and given 2 blood transfusions to counter the massive blood loss from his head injuries. It took 11 hours to stabilise him enough to transport  him to The Queensland Children's Hospital in Brisbane and straight into the paediatric intensive care unit.

The outlook for this gorgeous, cheeky little sprite was not good, not good at all. As family and friends learned of the news we all rallied around Ambalika and her babies. She was in the hospital with Matheus as well as 3 month old baby girl Ziggy, and dad Rod was holding down the fort at home with 3 year old Owen, who was just too difficult to have in the hospital environment. They were stretched and stressed, exhausted and overwhelmed, far apart from each other and their community who so desperately wanted to support them. We passed the hat around amongst us and raised some cash to cover immediate expenses and assist with bills on the home front now that neither parents were able to work.

Incredibly, and against all odds, exactly 3 weeks from the date of his accident Matheus headed home to continue his recovery in his own bed amongst all of his family and loved ones.

He truly is a miracle boy to have survived the massive head injuries he sustained. In the areas of cognitive ability he seems as he was before his accident but Ambalika has been told that he needs regular monitoring until the age of 18 to ensure he reaches all his milestones unaffected. We are so thankful he can use all his limbs as normal - amazing! Sadly Matheus is currently blind.

He suffered a lot of fractures to his skull and facial bones and those injuries around his orbital bones caused serious heamorrhages to both eye discs. He has continued weekly visits to Brisbane to have his eyes checked at the Children's Hospital and this coming Friday 6th December will be the make or break day when they decide if he will undergo further surgery to remove the blood stuck behind his left eye. His right eye is seemingly undamaged so they suspect the brain trauma to his occipital lobe is responsible for his lack of vision there. If anyone has any experience with this or knows of any amazing specialists in this field we would love to hear from you. Please message.

The past few weeks since being home have been hectic to say the least. With 3 children, 3 years and under in their care Ambalika and Rod are stretched beyond their limits. Neither of them are currently able to work due to the high demands at home. Matheus is completely out of whack with his sleep cycles and is up ALL night and sleeping on and off through the day. Amba and Rod are taking turns in his night care, however Amba is also breastfeeding Ziggy through the night so "rest" is a far off fantasy. They are running on very heavy exhaustion. Matheus is adjusting to his lack of vision but requires constant care and attention, his moods are extreme as he is obviously frustrated and confused by the limits his sight is placing on him. He is scared of things he used to enjoy, such as the touch of grass and water. All the while little 3 year old Owen has become increasingly demanding and clingy as he feels the intensity of the stress and trauma around him and little 4 month old Ziggy is just being her gorgeous self demanding care as any 4 month old does.

As well as the day to day adjustments and care needed to run the home Matheus is attending various appointments each week to assist his recovery. As well as the trip to Brisbane once per week from Northern NSW he also attends the rehab unit at Tweed Hospital one day per week and another local clinic in Tweed for private therapy two days per week. Twice per day Ambalika has to administer an injection into his leg for a blood clot which developed in the hospital. This is an extremely traumatic event, morning and night, that requires both parents to restrain Matheus whilst he is injected and then soothe his screams for quite some time afterwards until he is calm again. 

It's all taking its toll.

With neither parents working and the bills piling up, as well as a number of therapies that Ambalika would like to attend to assist Matheus's recovery (Chiropractor, Naturopath, Kinesiology these sessions will all add up $) we are hoping that the village might hold this family for a time and assist to ease their load. Ideally Amabalika would also love to put big brother Owen (3) into daycare a few days a week to give him a break from all the stress and trauma at home, to just be a kid and have some fun with other children who he can run and play with. This is just not affordable at this time. She has been offered a space for him in a lovely family daycare environment that will cost $200 per week for 2 days (which is the minimum booking allowance). As a friend I also would love to see Ambalika access some sort of therapy to assist her healing. This poor mother has been through absolute hell and she has been completely hands-on the entire time, she is still running on adrenaline since the accident and she needs deep rest and healing to recover her own self - physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. My heart breaks for her. She really needs all those therapists above (Chiropractor, Naturopath, Kinesiology AND a beautiful heartfelt counsellor to talk to) just as much as Matheus. Perhaps there are therapists within our community willing to donate some sessions for mum?

Any amount no matter how small will be graciously appreciated by this beautiful family and will always be remembered and honoured. We truly believe that the love, prayers and healing energy of our communities are what carried Matheus through this horrific ordeal. Prayer vigils and healing circles were held across the world for this sweet child and the power of that practice has shown itself. Let us come together as a true village now, to all contribute a small part towards supporting this family from going completely under. 

With humble love and deepest thanks ♥️