Owen Mathieson, 14, experienced a swelling above his right eye and suffered from severe headaches in the days following the freak accident in July
A teenager was left paralysed on one side of his body after being hit in the head with a football during a kickabout with friends.
Owen Mathieson, 14, experienced a swelling above his right eye and suffered from severe headaches in the days following the freak accident in July.
His mum Maria said it was a ‘traumatic’ experience as she worried her son could even die.
After the ball hit Owen’s head, he had a high temperature and an acute sensitivity to light – but doctors initially said he had suffered a concussion and said his headaches would fade in a week.
He was given painkillers and sent home to Wick in northern Scotland from Caithness General Hospital the next morning.
But his concerned mother, 42, was forced to take him back the same night after her son’s symptoms worsened.
Maria, an early years practitioner, explained: ‘They did a CT scan and took blood tests and realised that it was something more severe. He had a small bleed [between his skull and brain] and the bleed got infected. It was a scary thing.
‘If we had left it he could have ended up with severe disabilities. If we had left him to suffer another week he might not be here today.
‘The doctor said there was a risk he could die in the operation. It was very scary seeing him in so much pain. It was traumatic for all the family.’
Owen was airlifted to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary for further tests and MRI scans before being taken to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.
It was at this point he started to lose his speech and suffered from paralysis on his right side.
Maria said she was told her son could die from an emergency operation that was needed to wash out an infection that was found in his brain.
And she believes her son might have died if they had followed the initial advice of local doctors.
Doctors performed an operation to try to clear his sinuses of infection, but it emerged that the infection had entered the brain.
Owen was given 59 staples in his head after the major operation and his speech thankfully started to return.
He also needed a physio’s help to retrain his right arm and leg.
Owen spent five weeks recovering in hospital in Edinburgh and a further three weeks at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
He was given a further course of antibiotics to fight a small amount of infection which surgeons could not reach.
Maria has now called for a paediatrician to be based permanently in Caithness after the family’s terrifying ordeal.
She added: ‘If the doctor in Wick had taken bloods they could have seen his infection because his CRP (C-reactive protein) levels were into the hundreds, and normally it’s under five.
His mum Maria (pictured with Owen’s step-day Davis Henry) said it was a ‘traumatic’ experience as she worried her son could even die
‘Alarm bells should have been ringing for meningitis.
‘One of the doctors I spoke to in Edinburgh said he could not believe we had no paediatrician in Caithness. I feel very strongly that we should.’
Owen has missed a whole term at Wick High School, and may miss his National 5 exams next year to let his brain properly heal.
Maria thanked medical staff and her family for their support throughout her ordeal, as well as Wick Academy FC who have donated money to help the family.
She added: ‘Owen is doing better than he was and is now back at school part-time. He is still suffering from tiredness. It will take some time for his brain to heal.’
A spokesman for NHS Highland said: ‘We are sorry that Mrs Mathieson has concerns about the service she would expect from NHS Highland.
‘We would ask her to contact our feedback team so we can discuss this in person with her.
‘Raigmore Hospital is the only hospital in Highland that has a paediatric unit; this is not a new arrangement and not something that will be changing.
‘There is not an on-site paediatrics service in Caithness as we simply could not sustain this due to low volume for skills maintenance.
‘However, staff do have access to paediatric advice at all times and the Rural Practitioners who work in Caithness General do have enhanced paediatric skills.’