'Head injury could've killed me..now I have 30 staples to remind me how lucky I was' SCRIPT STAR GLEN TELLS OF RECOVERY AFTER TOILET FALL.Byline: MAEVE QUIGLEY THE drummer from rock band The Script has told of his amazing recovery from a potentially fatal head injury. Glen Power, 29, almost died after he slipped and fell in a toilet on a night out with his parents. Glen has now fully recovered and yesterday joined forces with Headway - the National Association For Acquired Brain Injury A neurological condition, Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) is damage to the brain acquired after birth. It usually affects cognitive, physical, emotional, social or independent functioning and can result from traumatic brain injury (i.e. accidents, falls, assaults, etc. - to give a positive message and also raise awareness about the dangers of even a small fall. He said: "I have a photograph of my head with 30 staples in it. "I took the staples when they were taken out, put them in the photo and hung it on the wall so, when I am having a bad day, I look at that and think, 'There's 30 reasons to smile'." Glen was just about to make it big with The Script when he had his fall. He said: "Two years ago the band was starting to bubble and I was in my local pub with my mother and father. "I went to use the bathroom, slipped and hit my head. "I fractured my temporal lobe temporal lobe n. The lowest of the major subdivisions of the cortical mantle of the brain, containing the sensory center for hearing and forming the rear two thirds of the ventral surface of the cerebral hemisphere. which resulted in an epidermal Epidermal Referring to the thin outermost layer of the skin, itself made up of several layers, that covers and protects the underlying dermis (skin). Mentioned in: Antiangiogenic Therapy, Histiocytosis X epidermal haematoma Noun 1. haematoma - a localized swelling filled with blood hematoma intumescence, intumescency - swelling up with blood or other fluids (as with congestion) - otherwise known as a blood clot blood clot n. A semisolid, gelatinous mass of coagulated blood that consists of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets in a fibrin network. . "I got up and thought I was OK but my dad Gary insisted I go to hospital and get checked out. I wanted to finish my drink and go home to bed but if I had done that I probably wouldn't be sitting here now." After a couple of hours in St Vincent's Hospital Glen started to feel excruciating pain. He said: "My nose started to bleed and my right ear closed up - I couldn't hear out of it at all." Doctors rushed Glen to the specialist unit at Beaumont Hospital where he was told he needed surgery to open his skull. He woke up four hours later and, initially, couldn't sit up, let alone walk. Glen said: "Seven days in, a nurse called Pat told me, 'The longer you sit in this bed, the longer you are going to be in it'. I"So I started walking the corridors... and on day six I got my mother to bring in my guitar. "On day nine, I got to go home." Seven weeks later, Glen rejoined The Script for rehearsals in London. He said: "The reason I am here today, and I can't stress it enough, is that I went to hospital. "If only one person sees this and they either take themselves or someone else to hospital after a bang on the head then it will be worth it." He said he wanted to show people that you can recover from head injuries but it takes time and patience. He also wanted people who suffer from brain injuries to know that they are not alone. To contact headway, visit www.headway.ie or call the helpline on 1890200278 for advice at any time. CAPTION(S): ORDEAL Script's Glen with picture of himself after surgery yesterday |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion