Head injury victim defies the odds

By Jane Elliott
Health reporter, BBC News

Alfie was delighted to finish the Marathon

Alfie Russell was 10 when he was knocked off his bike by a car.

Doctors and his parents feared Alfie, who had suffered serious head injuries, would die.

His mother, Jane, was told that even if he survived he was unlikely to walk again, to speak or hear.

Happily, 19-year-old Alfie proved them all wrong with a phenomenal recovery and recently completed the London Marathon in four hours 40 minutes, raising £20,000 to help others with head injuries.

But his mother said the 26.2 mile course had been a real struggle for Alfie, who still has some problems after the accident.

"For any normal person doing the marathon is hard, but for him with a head injury it was doubly hard," she said.

"When you have a head injury you have to think more. Whereas we would just pass people without batting an eyelid, for him running through those crowds was really tough."

Jane said one-on-one preparation with a trainer had been also vital to ensure that Alfie remembered to pace himself and to drink properly - things that his head injury meant he could easily overlook.

"Without the trainer he would have just run himself into the ground," she said.

Even with months of careful planning, the big event had still been a struggle, said Jane.

Alfie's prognosis was poor following his accident

"He had so many injuries in the race because he runs leaning heavily on one side because of the accident," she said.

"I saw him at the 20-mile mark and I wanted to pull him out. He looked like he was running with a stoop. But he was not going to give up - he was determined to finish."

Because of his accident Alfie walks with a limp and needs ongoing physio, speech and language therapy.

His memory is also badly affected, causing him learning difficulties, which have limited his career prospects.

Alfie dreams of a career in sport - but the odds are stacked against him.

"He finds it hard to retain information, his memory is not that good. He did do a foundation course in sport, but found it too difficult to progress to the next level, but now hopes to do a coaching course for athletics," his mother said.

Alfie said he was delighted to have completed the marathon - alongside his fundraising partners, celebrity former gymnast Suzanne Dando and her husband Adam, but said he would not be doing it again.

"I did want to raise money to help other children with brain injuries like mine. They want to raise enough to build a rehabilitation centre and I want to help them."

Before his injury Alfie was sports mad, playing for the Spurs under-nine football team and running for his school at district level.

Delight at crossing the finishing line

But after the accident the outlook had initially been very bleak.

"For the first three months he was treated at Guys Hospital. While he was there, he had to be fed through a tube in his tummy. It was like having a 10-year-old baby," said Jane.

Recovery was slow. Then Alfie was transferred to The Children's Trust, a national charity working with children who have multiple disabilities, based in Tadworth, Surrey.

It benefited from the money he raised in the marathon.

It was able to offer Alfie intensive occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech and language therapy and he stayed for 11 months.

After only a week Alfie was eating normally again and his memory came back slowly. First he remembered how to count to 10 and then showed he could remember the months of the year.

He was soon able to read and do simple maths.

After four weeks, he had begun to move his legs and was walking on the parallel bars.

It is important that these children are provided with the right services in order to give them the best of chance of regaining lost skills and maximising their independence Dr Serena Haywood The Children's Trust

Dr Serena Haywood, consultant neuro-developmental paediatrician at The Children's Trust, said it was important that the legacy of injuries like Alfie's was fully understood.

"Acquired brain injury affects thousands of children in the UK every year," she said.

"Their injuries can have profound implications for the child and their family, affecting the rest of their lives.

"Children can be left with all kinds of problems, from serious impairments in movement, speech, breathing and swallowing to more subtle, yet no less devastating problems with thinking, emotional maturity, social understanding and behaviour.

"It is therefore important that these children are provided with the right services in order to give them the best of chance of regaining lost skills and maximising their independence."

Next year the Children's Trust has been named as the chosen charity for the London Marathon and hopes to get 1,000 runners to support it.