Smiling Callum is on the road to recovery
A GOMERSAL mum has spoken of her heartbreak at keeping a bedside vigil for her son as he battled for his life.
Last week's Spenborough Guardian reported how the friends and family of seven-year-old Callum Irvine scaled Mount Snowdon to raise funds for the brave lad.
Now his mother Carly, 24, has praised her smiling son as he begins his road to recovery after being hit by a car in Moorend in April.
She said: "He was just an ordinary seven-year-old boy who loved to run around, playing football for Cleckheaton and Gomersal FC and going to Gomersal First School."
However, all that changed after the accident in which Callum suffered a fractured femur, cracked ribs and five fractures to his skull.
His injuries were so severe that medical staff induced a coma to relieve pressure on his brain.
Carly said that without the help of a 'local hero' called Steve, a qualified first aider who was nearby at the time, Callum might have died from his injuries. Although semi-conscious, Steve spoke to Callum until medics arrived.
He spent time in the intensive care unit at Leeds General Infirmary and at Dewsbury and District Hospital, before being discharged two weeks ago.
"The most difficult thing was being told he could die at any moment," Carly said of the time immediately after the accident.
"But from that day onwards, we have all seen positive signs from him. But that first week was the worst seven days of my life."
Carly, along with her mum, Tina, and dad, Jimmy, and her three-year-old son Bradley, was constantly at Callum's bedside.
"It was difficult because I was with him in hospital 24-hours a day, seven days a week," she said.
He is treated by speech therapists, community physiotherapists and occupational health workers to get him on the mend.
Carly added: "He does well in physio.
"He's a very determined little boy, whenever they try and sit him up in bed the first thing he does is try to stand up.
"We are all so grateful to both hospitals for their support, especially at the intensive care unit in Leeds and on the wards at Dewsbury as well. They explained everything to us very honestly. The nurses were fantastic with us and Bradley as well.
"We still have to take one day at a time and wait to see how his recovery goes."
Callum's coach at Cleckheaton and Gomersal FC also praised his bravery, as the club held a charity match for him just after the accident.
Coach Colin Watson said: "He was an absolute star and loved playing football. When we heard the news, we all wanted to do something to help him and show our support."
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Weather for Cleckheaton
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North west
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Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
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