‘Miracle’ as 15-year-old in vegetative state speaks to his parents
A boy of 15 who was left in a vegetative state after doing a backflip off a pier has spoken in what his father has described as a “miracle”.
Jack Dolan’s family were gathered around his hospital bed to say their goodbyes last weekend after his life support was taken away.
He had been put on end-of-life care after suffering an infection and a collapsed lung.
However, Jack has now spoken his first words since the incident, turning to his mother Lisa Dolan and saying “help”.
He has also begun to move his arms, wiggle his toes and squeeze on instruction, and smiled when the family dog Chewbacca, a German shepherd mastiff cross, jumped on his bed and licked him.
Dave Dolan, Jack’s father, called the development a “miracle”, adding: “He is so strong. He’s brain dead, but he’s managed to speak.
“He got hold of his mum’s arm and said ‘help’. The nurses cried. The doctors really don’t seem to know what is going on.
“Jack is very agitated. His arms are moving and he has started to wiggle his toes.
“Before we felt there wasn’t much hope; now Jack will lead the way.”
The teenager, a pupil at The Howard School in Medway, Kent, suffered severe brain damage when he landed on his head after jumping off Stone Pier in Margate on June 23.
He was with a group of friends and his girlfriend when the accident happened. It was his first trip to a beach without his parents.
It is thought Jack did not realise the height of the pier or the depth of the water when he jumped in and is understood to have been knocked unconscious before his friends pulled him from the water.
Oxygen therapy
Jack was taken to King’s College Hospital, London, by air ambulance. An MRI scan revealed he had suffered severe brain damage.
A person in a vegetative state is alive, and can breathe unaided but there is a slim chance of recovery. Brain death is when a person is being kept alive artificially and there is no chance of recovery.
There is some hope that oxygen therapy could help Jack regain some use in further areas of his brain.
In hyperbaric oxygen chambers, patients breathe a much higher concentration of oxygen, which some studies have suggested can help those with acute traumatic brain injuries.
‘He definitely knows his mum’s voice’
The Dolans are pushing for a reassessment of Jack’s condition and say if the oxygen therapy helps they will consider buying him a chamber for use at home, despite it costing £38,000.
“In the situation he is in he is still life-limited,” Mr Dolan said.
“Pneumonia, chest infections will get you in the first few years if you don’t move, but he is moving a little now.
“We think he can hear but he can’t convert the speech. He definitely knows his mum’s voice though.
“It’s a lot to take in but we are feeling a bit more positive.”