A Perthshire teenager who was put on life support after a cycling accident is beginning to breathe for himself and showing signs of recovery.
Keiran Lamond from Blairgowrie has been in hospital since he fell off his bike on October 8. He was not wearing a helmet when the accident happened as he was returning from an errand to the shops.
Family friend and neighbour Sara Airoud said the 14-year-old was making slow but steady progress.
“He has had an MRI,” she said.
“The results show he will have some form of brain damage but we won’t know the full extent until he wakes up.
“He isn’t paralysed which is great, and he moves every now and then.
“He also gets physiotherapy to help his muscles. He has a small bleed on his brain but it’s nothing to really worry about.”
She said Keiran had a lot of treatment ahead and his parents Greig and Nicola were facing an anxious time as they keep watch by his bedside at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.
His oxygen levels have fluctuated, she said, but he is now able to breathe himself with only a small amount of help from the machine.
“They are going to do another operation for his throat where he has tubes to help him breathe,” said Sara.
The youngster is still 25% sedated, but doctors hope to take him off sedation following his operation.
It will then be “up to Keiran to wake up himself”, Sara said.
She added: “When he starts to waken they will transfer him from intensive care to the children’s ward at Ninewells.
“It’s looking promising that he will survive this, but the family are in for a long haul of care.”
Following the accident, Keiran’s family have urged cyclists to wear helmets.
His life was saved by a passer-by who called an ambulance and gave him first aid at the scene while she waited for medics to arrive.
Thanking her for her help last week, Sara said: “Keiran was not wearing a helmet on the night of his accident – if he was his injuries may not have been life threatening.”
“If we can get the message through to just one person then we can rest easy.”
Locals have been raising money to support Keiran’s parents with transport costs from their home to the hospital and other necessities.
