BRAIN BLEED
Langley family urges helmet use after teen needs emergency neurosurgery following crash
J
ames Milne had gone down the ing unresponsive. With the hill on his skateboard many family stunned at the rapid times before. This time however, downward spiral in James’s the ride was near fatal. The Langley condition, they discovered 17-year old, who wasn’t wearing a he had a bleed inside his helmet, crashed and suffered a trau- head. matic brain injury. An epidural hematoma is “I got speed wobbles going down, a life-threatening buildup and then I fell,” says James. of blood outside the brain His mother Audrey received the call tissue. that Friday evening, “Usually it’s from only 15 minutes after a skull fracture,” she had watched her You either don’t ride says Royal Coson leave with his the skateboard, or you lumbian Hospital friends. As they went neurosurgeon wear a helmet. away, the group Dr. Navraj Heran. had brushed aside “The head im-Graham Milne Audrey’s request pacts something to wear helmets. and the bone “I should have done something,” breaks. The bone tears a Audrey says in hindsight. “I had this vessel in the lining and you feeling.” get bleeding.” Now, James’s friends were on the phone with her, worried about the Advocating safety seriousness of his fall. When Audrey James was rushed by amarrived, her son was conscious bulance to Royal Columbiagain but dazed. an Hospital – the designated centre for neurosurgery Delayed symptoms in Fraser Health – where The family made their way to the Dr. Heran was being looked nearby local hospital, where he was upon to save the teen’s life. eventually diagnosed with a concus- “It was probably the sion. The family was urged to keep a longest 20 minutes of our close eye on him at home. lives,” recalls Audrey. “Dr. By mid-afternoon the next day, a Heran came out and that pain above James’s eye was growing was it. He said it was fine. It in intensity. He threw up and was went exactly as it should.” increasingly sleepy. Even a visit from James spent three days his friend didn’t boost his energy. recovering in hospital beBy the evening, with Tylenol unable fore going back home to a to provide any relief, his mother no- grateful family. ticed a change in James’s eyes. The His parents expect James family had been warned to look out to make a full recovery, and for dilated pupils. they hope others will learn They headed back to the local ER, from the story and take the and his dad pleaded for immediate use of helmets seriously. attention. A nurse took a look and “If he had had a helmet on, he probbrought the family in. A CT scan was ably would have had a concussion, ordered amid growing concerns. but it would have protected that By this point, James was becomarea right where he had the bleed,”
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says Audrey. “You have to make a decision: you either don’t ride the skateboard, or you wear a helmet,” adds dad Graham. ROYAL COLUMBIAN HOSPITAL FOUNDATION I YOUR HEALTH MATTERS
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