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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Olivia Williams

Boy, 10, left needing open brain surgery wants all children to do one thing

A boy who was left needing open brain surgery has said he wants all children to do one thing so it doesn't happen to them.

Siobhan Darbey, from West Derby, said her 10-year-old son Dyllan was riding his bike on July 14 when he fell off.

The schoolboy wasn't wearing a helmet because he thought it was "uncool" according to his mum but the decision caused Dyllan to need life-saving surgery at Alder Hey Children's Hospital.

As the 10-year-old fell off his bike the most delicate part of his head - his temple - hit the kerb leaving him with a fractured skull and a "massive" bleed on the brain.

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It meant Dyllan needed open brain surgery the next day and had to have a seven-inch piece of bone of his skull removed, put back on and then five metal plates and 10 screws inserted.

Mum Siobhan told the ECHO : "Dyllan fell off the kerb and he hit the weakest part of his head which is the temple.

"He had to have a seven-inch piece of bone cut out.

"It was an arterial bleed, so they stopped the bleeding and then they put the piece of bone back on.

"There are five metal plates and 10 screws, so he hasn't half been through it and he is really, really brave."

After his operation at Alder Hey Children's Hospital Dyllan was discharged four days later on July 18 and had to spend his summer holidays in a "dark room".

Dyllan Bisset, from West Derby, after his surgery (Alder Hey Children's Hospital/Siabhon Darbey)

Siobhan added: "Dyllan got discharged four days afterwards, his operation was on the Thursday then got discharged on the Sunday.

"He spent the whole school holidays inside, it was just awful.

"In a dark room with no sound because he had a significant brain injury."

The West Derby mum said Dyllan now wants to raise awareness about wearing helmets and for other children to know the importance of them.

She said: "Prior to the accident Dyllan would not wear a helmet because he thought it was uncool.

"There is a stigma in this generation where they say 'I am not going to wear a helmet, I am going to be seen as soft or uncool'.

"That's the reason why Dyllan wouldn't wear the helmet, he has got one but he would say 'no I don't need it, I would never fall off my bike'.

"Dyllan wants to get it out there the importance of wearing a helmet because even after the accident when we're driving along the road we see five to ten kids a day not wearing one.

"I feel like stopping the car and saying 'please you don't realise what it can do'.

"We're so lucky because the surgeon said to us if we don't operate now he will have a stroke and end up having brain damage or dying.

"It could have been a lot worse than it was and he was so lucky all thanks to those amazing surgeons at Alder Hey.

"They were so selfless and they just do their job and carry on with their day like they haven't done anything.

"One of the surgeons didn't sleep for 24 hours, amazing hospital and amazing people."

Siobhan said Dyllan hopes he "didn't go through this for nothing" and hopes by sharing his story he can warn other children and potentially save their life.

Dyllan's mum told the ECHO: "Hopefully getting his story out there will make a parent put a helmet on their child because it is so, so avoidable what Dyllan went through."

"We want to try and make it law and Dyllan wants to go to parliament and show them what he has been through.

"Why is it law to wear a helmet on a motorbike or on a horse but not for a child on a pushbike?"

Siobhan also wanted to thank the staff at Alder Hey and a special shout out to surgeons Mr Ahmed Aly and Mr William Dawes.

She said: "Alder Hey saved his life and they saved him from having any neurological brain damage."

"They don't get enough credit for what they do, they are absolutely amazing."

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