A 14-year-old Caithness boy was left paralyzed on one side and fighting for his life – after a football hit his head.
Owen Mathieson’s mother Maria believes her son “might not be here today” if they had followed the initial advice of local doctors.
And she has called for a pediatrician to be based permanently in Caithness after the family’s terrifying ordeal.
Owen was taken to Caithness General Hospital a week after the ball hit him while he was playing as goalkeeper during a match with friends, because swelling started above his left eye.
He was suffering from headaches, a high temperature and a sensitivity to light – but a doctor told Mrs Mathieson that her son had concussion and that the headaches would fade in a week.
They were sent home with painkillers the next morning, however, they returned to hospital that night as Owen’s symptoms worsened.
The next morning another doctor took blood and carried out a CT scan which, after conferring with medics at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI), revealed a bleed between the skull and brain known as an intracranial subdural haematoma.
He was airlifted to ARI for further tests and MRI scans before being taken to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh, where he started to lose his speech and suffered from paralysis on his right side.
Medics told his mother her son “could die” from an emergency operation that was needed to wash out an infection that was found in his brain, as his body had not responded quickly enough to antibiotics.
Mrs Mathieson, of Weir Crescent in Milton by Wick, said: “If we had left him to suffer another week he might not be here today. At the very least he would have had brain damage.
“If the doctor (in Wick) had taken bloods they could have seen his infection because his CRP (C-reactive protein) levels were into the hundreds, and normally it’s under five. Alarm bells should have been ringing for Meningitis.
“One of the doctors I spoke to in Edinburgh said he could not believe we had no pediatrician in Caithness. I feel very strongly that we should. It’s very worrying.”
Owen was given 59 staples in his head after the major operation on July 21 and his speech started to return straight away, but he needed a physio’s help to retrain his right arm and leg.
Doctors performed a smaller operation the previous day to try and clear his sinuses of infection, but it emerged that the infection had entered the brain.
He spent five weeks recovering in the Edinburgh hospital and a further three weeks at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, while taking a further course of antibiotics to fight a small amount infection which surgeons could not reach.
The antibiotics caused side effects such as body rashes and pancreatitis – but he is finally able to stop them today.
But the teenager has already missed a whole term at Wick High School, and may miss his National 5 exams next year to let his brain properly heal.
He will also have to stop playing football and badminton until next year due to moveable titanium screws in his head.
Mrs Mathieson thanked medical staff and her family for their support throughout her ordeal, as well as Wick Academy FC who have donated money to help pay for travel and food costs and time off work at a local nursery.
Donations can be made by visiting
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/anne-foubister?utm_id=108&utm_term=Nwkk2kdw3
