On 30th June 2022 Grant Stewkesbury had been involved in an accident which would change his life forever. Grant’s mother, Jackie Stewkesbury, recalls the moment she found out something was wrong.
I was in the cinema, and when I came out and turned my phone back on, I had 15 missed calls. None of them were from Grant so I instantly knew that something awful must have happened to him. His sister told me there had been a terrible accident and that he’d been airlifted to Southampton Hospital in a critical condition. We had to get there as soon as possible.”
Grant had suffered a Diffuse Axonal head Injury and he had ruptured some of the connection to the brain – the worst type of brain injury. After a week in Southampton Hospital, Grant was transferred to Dorchester County Hospital Critical Care Unit.
Three weeks after the accident the neuro consultant said that signs were encouraging that there will be some reasonable recovery,” says Jackie. “Up until this news we had no idea what we were facing. The treatment and care in Critical Care at Dorchester County Hospital was amazing. It gave Grant such a good start on his long road to recovery.”
After 8 weeks in the Critical Care Unit at Dorchester County Hospital, Grant was transferred to the Portland Ward rehabilitation unit in Poole Hospital, where the incredible treatment and care continued with intense physiotherapy, speech and language therapy and occupational therapy. He was then moved to a rehabilitation care home in Bournemouth, where he spent 6 months.
Grant’s recovery has amazed his mother, Jackie:
Grant is learning to walk again, which is something we dared not hope he would be able to do. Everyone who has cared for Grant has a played a huge part in his recovery. You are all amazing and we cannot thank you enough.”
