A Blairgowrie mum is celebrating the day she feared she would never see – the 18th birthday of her son, Keiran.
Nicola Lamond is determined to make Thursday December 21 a day to remember.
Just three years ago, she could only watch on as Keiran fought for his life after a horrific bicycle accident.
Now, despite the ongoing challenges he faces, Nicola is determined to make Thursday’s milestone birthday extra special – and even issued a plea a few weeks ago for people to send cards for Keiran, whether they knew him or not.
‘We want to make Keiran’s 18th birthday as special as possible’
Nicola told The Courier: “Keiran gets very frustrated because of his condition.
“He can’t do any of the things that other 18-year-olds do to celebrate his birthday and it upsets him, so we have decided to try to make it as special as possible.
“He’s been really down lately which has been hard for us all.
“I asked people to send Keiran an 18th birthday card – just to show him how much he is loved.
“I’m doing this in the hope that it shows Keiran just how much he’s loved and how many people think about him
“We only asked for cards but people have been sending presents as well.
“Everyone is being amazing.”
Teenager crashed bicycle while not wearing helmet
On October 8 2020, Keiran – then aged 14 – left home on his bike to buy bread and butter.
He was not wearing a helmet and smashed into a lamp post – suffering serious head injuries.
He was left fighting for his life as surgeons removed three blood clots from his brain.
Nicola said: “After the accident and then surgery, the doctors told us he would be lucky to survive the first 24 hours due to the damage to his brain.”
Keiran spent months in hospital, including some time in intensive care, and had to learn to talk again.
He has been left with a series of lifelong difficulties as a result.
He is now confined to a wheelchair with limited mobility, has ADHD, can only go out with family or carers, struggles with reading and writing, and has seizures.
Nicola says there have been talks about Keiran living in specialist sheltered housing, but says he may end up staying at home.
She said: “Keiran has six sisters and a baby brother, Lucas, who he has really formed an unbelievable bond with.
“They are so close and it has made a huge difference to Keiran’s life.”
Bid to get more care for Keiran
Nicola says Keiran’s school friend, George Beattie, has also been a loyal companion.
She said: “George is at college now but he comes to see Keiran every day when he gets back, has his tea with us and only then goes home to get up for college the next day.”
Nicola also runs a pop-up shop in Blairgowrie to help pay for more care for Keiran.
She said: “At the moment, Keiran only gets taken out a couple of times a week, but he loves to get out and about – so if we can pay for private carers for him, it will make a huge difference to the quality of his life.”
After Keiran’s crash, Nicola launched a campaign for ‘Keiran’s Law’ to make the wearing of crash helmets on bicycles compulsory.
She said: “Sadly, that failed initially for a variety of reasons.
“However, I’m keen not to drop this completely and plan to begin a new petition to get support for the proposal.”
Nicola continues to keep people updated on her son’s progress on a Facebook page, Keiran’s Journey.
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