Wheelchair bound brain injury patient defies all expectation and walks again

A young musician, who was left in a vegetative state after being hit by a train, has defied all expectation and has started walking and talking again.

Jovel, who is originally from America but moved to Birmingham a few years ago, suffered a major head injury in 2019 after being hit by a train when his glasses fell on the tracks.

Straight after the accident he was left with a significant brain injury and put into an induced coma in hospital. He remained in a disorder of consciousness state for just over a year before waking up to everyone’s astonishment, but soon after his medical team realised he had endured a serious long-term brain injury.

Jovel’s mother Amanda Jenkins said: “We were overjoyed when he gained consciousness but it became obvious very early on that the old Jovel had gone. Instead, we had a very angry, frustrated young man who was left unable to speak, feed himself and walk.

“She said: “It was so hard to see my son struggling. Before the accident he was so full of life and he loved his music. I knew that he was annoyed at being unable to communicate and move around as he once had been able to. His mental health became impacted too as he grew depressed and anxious about his quality of life and the things he could no longer do, including make music.”

He was transferred to a facility in Birmingham where his physical and mental health significantly deteriorated, so he was then moved to St Andrew’s Healthcare for specialist care.

The wards within the unit specialise in the admission and stabilisation of helping people like Jovel. Staff there provide active rehabilitation to adult men with complex mental health needs and neuropsychiatric diagnoses.

It was there that the young man was introduced to specialist physiotherapists Jyothi Kraleti, who was based on Tavener ward and Binny Kuriakose from Tallis ward and tgether they set about improving Jovel’s quality of life.

Jyothi said: “It became obvious early on that Jovel didn’t want to be here. He was very sad, angry, depressed and untrusting. But we persevered, coming to see him everyday, repeating his exercises and talking to him. He felt very isolated and was largely bed bound when he first came to us. We also noticed he didn’t like loud noise so we set about protecting him from noise which might alarm him. All of these things we took into account when we worked with him.”

Binny said: “Once Jovel had built up some trust with us he made it clear that he wanted to be mobile again so we really started to focus on whether this might be possible. I paid special attention to his legs and after assessment it was decided he needed corrective surgery which he underwent.

“After the operation something had shifted. He started to engage with us better and his anxiety levels slowly started declining and that’s when we really started to see results, however, at this stage he was still predominantly in his wheelchair.”

The team decided to set an ambitious injury goal for Jovel which involved him standing up and walking one day. Mobility and physio sessions increased and he really engaged. Eventually progress began to be made.

When asked what the turning point in his recover was, Jovel said: “I just realised I wanted to go home so I tried my very best everyday.”

Jyothi said: “I have seen absolutely remarkable progress in Jovel since his admission on Tavener ward. A year ago he was wheelchair bound, but he’s pushed himself to his absolute limits. He’s now socially engaging with the other patients and is able to mobilise on the wards with his gutter frame. He’s also begun practising walking outdoors with his TOPRO frame which allows him to go shopping and visit the community. Now he’s got his confidence back he’s also started attending music studio sessions with us.

“Recently his home team were fitting a lift for him and we all laughed as Jovel actually walked past the men doing the work and they were amazed.”

Amanda added: “I’ve got my son back. He has a good quality of life again and for this I am so grateful to St Andrew’s and their committed staff for all they’ve done. We have a lot to thank Jyothi and Binny for. I feel like they are the ultimate dynamic duo.”