A mother-of-four has said she feels like her son has been “robbed of the life he could have had” after falling from a window.
Kyle Judge fell two storeys from a window in a block of Aberdeen flats earlier this year.
The five-year-old was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, before being airlifted to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow where doctors removed half his skull.
His mum, Claire Hadden, said: “A bolt was inserted into his head to measure the pressure inside his skull.
“When he first got there he was quite stable but then the inter-cranial pressure went through the roof and he was fighting for his life.”
Doctors removed half of Kyle’s skull, in an operation lasting almost five hours.
Two of the frontal lobes were removed to release pressure and to allow his brain to swell.
Ms Hadden yesterday said she fears her little boy will never be the same as he faces another major surgery.
Ms Hadden, who is also mum to John Paul, 11, Sophie, seven, and Olivia, two, said “He survived but it’s not as simple as that. He has to go through another horrendous operation.
“He could have difficulties for the rest of his life. It’s as if we have been given another little boy.”
Ms Hadden – who now wants to raise awareness of brain injuries – said: said she will never forget the moment her daughter Sophie ran home to tell her about Kyle’s accident.
“I just ran out and the first thing I thought was ‘Oh my god, I have lost my boy,’” she said.
Kyle now suffers from severe fatigue, is more emotional annd has less stamina.
He also lacks a filter, and sometimes just says whatever comes into his head. He was due to start school later this month, but will now have to wait another year.
He also requires 24-hour supervision and has to wear a special helmet at all times other than when sleeping or showering.
Kyle faces another major operation, which will happen between now and January, to rebuild the half of his skull which was removed.
Ms Hadden – who praised the team at Glasgow’s Sick Kids and the Child Brain Injury Trust for their support – said: “My son is here and he’s in front of me but he’s not.
“It’s going to affect us for the rest of our lives and I feel like he’s been robbed of the life he could have had.”