Young Tom Patterson was crushed and seriously injured by fellow passengers trying to get off a Ryanair flight. When he was brought into hospital, the outlook was bleak.
"He was in a coma and was paralysed. It was grim," said Consultant Ahkmed Pritesh. "There was little we could do, which was handy as it was friday and I wanted to beat the traffic."
Tom, eventually came through his early scare and woke to see 'Get Well' cards. One from the hospital staff caught his eye. On the front it said 'You're Stuffed' and the verse inside would have sent shivers down his spine had he not been paralysed:
No longer in a coma
Even though you're only ten
It's our duty to inform you
That you'll never walk again
You can still crawl on your belly
It's never troubled snakes
It's a shame that it has happened
But hey! Them's the breaks.
"It made me determined to beat my condition," said Tom. "Then doctors told me I would never pogo across the Sahara carrying an alligator with an aga on my back. That made me angry. Why do they make such sweeping statements? One even offered a fiver for my pogo stick," added Tom.
Dr Pritesh explained: "We told him all that because we often tell people they will 'never walk again' and then five years down the line, much to our annoyance, they are in the media doing a triathlon and saying how they were determined to prove doctors wrong. We don't like that. To be honest, I'd rather be proved right and have them paralysed than proved wrong and have them skipping the light fandango."
Within a year, Tom made a superb recovery and proved doctors wrong.
He could have spent his life being waited on hand and foot. His choice. I don't think we were wrong at the time. We did thorough tests. I was shoving needles in the soles of his feet and belting his legs with mallets and he made no noises to show us he had any feeling. Turns out he was dying to scream, but his broken jaw wouldn't allow it. We must have really hurt him," said Dr Pritesh.
Tom said he would not be doing anything like that again. "To be honest it was hard work and the 8 grand I raised for charity won't make a blind bit of difference. I would say to people who end up being paralysed that you may as well milk it. I think I've done my back in," said Tom.
