A teenage boy who suffered severe head injuries in a horrific bicycle crash is now able to talk again after more than four months in hospital.
Keiran Lamond, 15, is set to undergo an operation which will see a metal plate implanted on the damaged part of his skull.
It marks another miraculous milestone for Keiran since he fractured his skull after hitting a lamppost near his Blairgowrie home in October.
The teen was not wearing a helmet at the time and a bystander swiftly intervened, giving Keiran first aid until an ambulance arrived.
He underwent a MRI scan at Ninewells which revealed he had a bleed on his brain followed by emergency four-hour surgery.
After the procedure his parents were told to prepare for the worst.
But the Blairgowrie High School pupil has since received round-the-clock care which has seen his condition gradually improve.
He was transferred from the intensive care to the High Care Unit (HCU) and then finally on to the children’s unit in December.
His family were told that although there were no signs of paralysis, he will suffer some form of brain damage.
Keiran’s rehabilitation programme includes physiotherapy and speech therapy, and thanks to that hard work he has regained the ability to talk again.
There is no timeline for when Keiran can return home but stepmum Nicola revealed “he is doing really well”.
“He is still in the children’s ward and he is speaking now, but is still struggling with left side movement,” she told the PA.
“He is working in the gym for the physio now and they are working him a bit harder.
“It is coming up for four months in hospital and he is going through the point where he is wanting to come home and see his wee sister.
“He has still to undergo surgery for a metal plate on his skull, which will be a while yet.
“There is not a date set but it will be another couple of months at least. That is the next step.”
Keiran was last in theatre in January to have a procedure to place a feeding tube through the abdominal wall and into the stomach. It allows nutrition, fluids and medications to be put directly into the stomach, bypassing the mouth and oesophagus.
“The procedure could not have gone better,” Nicola added.
“Keiran didn’t like the feeding tube going down his throat and wanted to take it out every opportunity he had.
“Instead of it being in his nose they have put it in his tummy and he is recovering from that.
“He has received a lot of messages and through his journey page on Facebook people have been sending him Valentine’s cards from all over.
“Quite a lot are following the page and it shows what can happen to children when they don’t wear a helmet.
“A family member of mine has also spoken to John Swinney about it [measures to make helmets more mandatory].
“He will hopefully go ahead and speak to the transport secretary and we will be waiting to hear about that.”
A JustGiving page was set up to raise money to help with the family’s travel costs to visit the teenager every day and donations have now exceeded the £1000 mark. To donate visit.
