A dad has spoken out about the traumatic birth of his second child which nearly lost him his wife and newborn son, and the the PTSD the experience caused.
Scott Falkiner and his wife Elodie were looking forward to welcoming their second child Arthur into the world in 2019, and had planned for a home birth.
Scott, a 31-year-old ceremonial drill instructor from Camborne, says what should have been one of the most joyous occasions of their life quickly turned dark as Elodie's waters broke and the room filled with blood, reports Cornwall Live.
Scott felt like he failed his family, shut himself off from the world and couldn't look at little Arthur.
He was later diagnosed with PTSD and has since taken back control of his life.
Both mother, 28-year-old Elodie, and baby fortunately survived and are doing well today. However, Scott recalls a time he was told his son had suffered brain damage and would likely have lifetime complications as a result.
"We planned a home birth and as soon as the waters broke we knew something was wrong with the amount of blood that my wife lost," he said.
They called an ambulance out straight away, and Scott said the vehicle had to stop multiple times between their Plymouth house and Derriford Hospital because the baby’s head was crowning.
He says they were told that if the baby was delivered in the ambulance then his wife and his baby would not survive the journey.
"All hell broke loose at the hospital and my wife couldn't even get on a hospital bed before Arthur was born.
"It was such a traumatic experience that we both had. When Arthur arrived she was still on the hospital trolley and I just remember everything, everywhere, being covered in blood.
"The baby, the nurses, the doctors, the paramedics, me. We didn't know what was happening."
Later they were told a ruptured placenta led to the complications and baby Arthur had blood in his lungs. He was resuscitated and taken to intensive care, and suffered seizures in the hours that followed. Elodie lost a lot of blood but was in a stable condition.
"After numerous scans they found out that he had frontal lobe brain damage," Scott said. "We didn't know this until four days after he was born and we weren't able to determine what kind of future he might have.
"It was meant to be a joyous occasion between me and my wife and it just got turned into the opposite. In that conversation I felt like I was in a black hole and just in a room by myself."
He said being in the military for almost a decade, he had become used to "taking control" but with his family's future being so unknown he felt he had "failed everyone" and was later diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
"It all went downhill from there," he said, describing how his life was turned upside down.
Fortunately he has since received the help he needed and Arthur has grown into a cheeky and energetic toddler, completely defying any initial health scares.
"I was able to attend Departments of Community Mental Health sessions (speciality mental health care for serving personnel) and later on we were able to slowly start taking back our lives and accept what happened, which was just a freak accident that couldn't have been prevented," said Scott.
The two year time frame also passed this September, in which Elodie and Scott were told they would have a better idea on how Arthur was doing developmentally.
"We had the news that he was able to develop new neurological pathways to the affected side of the brain because it happened so early," explained Scott.
"So he is now able to walk, he is able to talk, and he doesn't stop running around to be honest. He is such a happy cheeky, little chap who wakes up at four in the morning and doesn't stop until he goes to bed at night.
"He is showing signs of a completely healthy and normal two-year-old boy so we are over the moon with that".
Scott is sharing his story today to help support charities like the one that gave him help when he needed it.
After being sent to a mental health rehabilitation centre at Wiltshire-based Tedworth House, funded by Help for Heroes, the dad-of-two discovered his passion for art.
He is currently selling 200 hand-painted limited edition poppy pieces with proceeds going to Help for Heroes. You can follow him or make a purchase on his Facebook art page here.
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