More than two months after being struck by a vehicle while cycling in Stittsville, Ghost Padron is still in the hospital, fighting for life. Read MoreNeurologists told Leslie-Anne Barrett that Ghost Padron had a Grade Three diffuse axonal brain injury after being struck by a car in Stittsville.
Neurologists told Leslie-Anne Barrett that Ghost Padron had a Grade Three diffuse axonal brain injury after being struck by a car in Stittsville.
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More than two months after being struck by a vehicle while cycling in Stittsville, Ghost Padron is still in the hospital, fighting for life.
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Doctors have said there’s no chance of meaningful recovery from the serious brain injury they received, but mother Leslie-Anne Barrett is celebrating every small step forward that Padron takes as she spends every day by their bedside.
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On July 22, Padron was cycling down Sweetnam Drive south of Hazeldean Road and east of the Amberwood Village Golf Club when they were hit by a vehicle. They were transported to hospital with life-altering injuries.
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The Evening Citizen
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Ottawa police announced on Tuesday that a 47-year-old man was facing charges of dangerous operation causing bodily harm and other offences under the Highway Traffic Act in connection with the July collision.
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For Barrett, those charges don’t offer solace. Instead, she hopes they act as a call to action for drivers to be more aware of their surroundings.
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“I just hope people see this and use it as a reference as to what can happen,” she said.
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Neurologists told Barrett in August that Padron had a Grade Three diffuse axonal brain injury in addition to several broken bones. It’s a prognosis a small number of people can recover from, but doctors say Padron likely won’t be one of them.
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Now Padron is waiting for a long-term care bed to open up at the Saint-Vincent Hospital, where they could receive around-the-clock care. Until then, they’re still in the trauma centre at the Civic campus of The Ottawa Hospital, living with a feeding tube and a tracheostomy breathing tube.
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In addition to being primary caregiver for her own elderly mother, Barrett spends upwards of eight hours a day at hospital with Padron, talking, reading books, playing music and, together, looking out the hospital room window that Barrett has adorned with decorations.
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“And sometimes we just sit in silence, which is something that is very intimate and very profoundly sad and beautiful at the same time,” Barrett said. “I’m looking at my sensitive child, who is in pain, and I’m praying and hoping that their pain will go away, and I keep telling them how strong they are every day.”