A STUDENT woke up from a coma for 11 months after a car accident unaware of the Covid pandemic.
Joseph Flavill, 19, was rushed to the hospital after suffering a serious brain injury when he was hit by a car while walking in Burton, Staffordshire, on March 1.
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Tutbury level A student Joe fell into a coma three weeks before the UK plunged into its first national confinement on 23 March.
He caught Covid twice in the hospital, but he recovered and now came out of a stage two coma.
But that means he is unaware of the pandemic that has hit billions of people around the world.
He is now responding to his loved ones, who must communicate with him on Facetime.
‘INCREDIBLY HARD’
Only Joe’s mother was allowed to visit him under virus restrictions, with his relatives wondering how to explain Covid’s chaos in the world to him.
His aunt Sally Flavill-Smith said he has taken “incredible steps” in the past few weeks and is now blinking, smiling and raising his legs in instruction.
She told Staffordshire Live: “It’s the best we’ve seen of him recently. It may seem like little progress, but the fact that he can give the nurse another five is a big step.
“It is incredibly difficult for your mother not to be able to see you.
“We also don’t know how much he understands what his accident was like before the first blockade and it’s almost as if he slept through the entire pandemic.
We also don’t know how much he understands what his accident was like before the first blockade and it’s almost as if he slept through the entire pandemic.
Sally Flavill-Smith, Joe’s aunt
“It is difficult because we know that he is more alert, but how do you explain the pandemic to someone who is in a coma?
“A brain injury is unknown, so we were not given an idea of what to really expect.”
Joe was at Leicester General Hospital, but moved to Adderley Green Care Home in Stoke for neurological, physical and cognitive rehabilitation four months ago.
His mother was allowed to stay with him at home on the 19th
birthday, but had to distance himself socially.
Joe, who studied at the Ferrers Academy, caught Covid once while he was still in a coma and once after waking up, but is now making good progress.
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Sally said his face lights up when he sees friends and family on the Facetime screen.
The family wants him to restart physical therapy, which had to stop due to Covid.
He wanted to take a year off after A-level to travel, so now his family and friends are planning something special for him.
Fit and healthy Joe, who loved hockey, was waiting to attend Buckingham Palace to receive his gold award from the Duke of Edinburgh before the accident.
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Family and friends came together, with £ 33,000 raised to help Joe and his mother Sharon Priestley during the teenager’s recovery.
About 100 fundraisers have accumulated 13,000 kilometers of cycling, walking, running and rowing on a virtual journey around the world.
To donate to the fundraising campaign, visit here or visit the website, which is located here.
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