Boy, 13, who dreamed of being a professional footballer is told he’ll never walk again after ‘back strain he suffered at training’ turned out to be a rare blood clot on his spine
- Kyle Burns, from Ayrshire, collapsed after football training with back strain
- Doctors diagnosed the 13-year-old with a rare blood clot which caused paralysis
- Mother Donna was told her son would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair
A 13-year-old boy who dreamed of becoming a professional footballer was told he will never walk again after being hit with a rare blood clot in his spinal cord.
Kyle Burns, from Galston, Ayrshire, collapsed suddenly after training and was rushed to hospital with a suspected back strain.
But doctors discovered a rare clot on his spine which had ripped – causing him to lose all feeling from the waist down.
Kyle Burns (pictured), from Galston, Ayrshire, collapsed suddenly after training and was rushed to hospital with a suspected back strain
Doctors discovered a rare clot on his spine which had ripped – causing him to lose all feeling from the waist down
Mother Donna, 35, burst into tears when medics broke the news that her football-loving son now faced life in a wheelchair.
She told the Daily Record: ‘Just hours earlier he had been running around playing the sport he lived for and then we were being told Kyle would never walk again.’
Kyle’s condition was so rare that doctors at Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock had to take advice from experts in London.
The mother-of-three said: ‘They said the only thing they could compare it to was like someone being shot in the back with a shotgun.
Mother Donna (right), 35, burst into tears when medics broke the news that her football-loving son now faced life in a wheelchair
‘The medical staff said that if Kyle had fallen out of a window 10 storeys high the injuries to his spine wouldn’t have been as severe.’
The 13-year-old was then diagnosed with a fibrocartilaginous embolism, which is a sudden artery block which leads to a spinal stroke, causing the cord to tear.
Ms Burns was told doctors couldn’t operate on her son and she was faced with the devastating news that there was no treatment for his condition.
Kyle’s condition was so rare that doctors at Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock had to take advice from experts in London
Now Kyle, who is ‘a popular lad at school’ and loves playing playing sport, faces months of difficult rehabilitation just to build the strength to sit in a wheelchair.
The heartbroken mother says her son is struggling to come to terms with the shocking news and that he ‘just can’t get his head around it’.
Mrs Burns, who is also mother to Jamie, 18, Thomas, eight, and Cooper, four, says the youngster will start to use a wheelchair in the next week.
The mother-of-four says her son is struggling to come to terms with the shocking news and that he ‘just can’t get his head around it’
Ms Burns says his recovery will be ‘a long road’ but that she wants him to ‘live life to the fullest’
The family are trying to remain positive despite the terrible news and are kept going by the flood of support from loved ones and friends and Kyle’s football team.
They have set up a fundraising page in the hope to buy Kyle an electric wheelchair to allow him independence and be a normal teenager when he gains strength.
Ms Burns says his recovery will be ‘a long road’ but that she wants him to ‘live life to the fullest’.
To donate, visit Kyle’s GoFundMe page.