A former Broughty Ferry man who suffered a massive brain trauma in a horrific scooter accident in Taiwan nearly two years ago has spoken of his long journey to recovery.
Expat Kevin Skelly, 47, was only given a 1% chance of survival when he crashed his bike in Taipei two Februarys ago.
Since then he has undergone a series of operations, intensive rehabilitation and music therapy.
But now, he and his wife Jenny and their children Ciara and Callum have made it home to Kevin’s dad Tom’s in Broughty Ferry to see the family and friends who have supported them through their traumatic experience.
“It’s been really great,” Kevin said. “I’ve been catching up with old friends and it was great to be in the Fisherman’s last night and see everyone. It’s been a lot of pain to get back walking.”.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; padding-top: 30px; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }
Kevin met old classmates in the Ferry pub who have been sending message of support and fundraising to help the family pay for his care since the crash.
In Taiwan, as soon as a patient gets out of ICU, the family have to take over care and Kevin needed 24-hour attention for the first weeks.
He has very little memory of the accident.
He said: “I remember waking up in the hospital and they were doing all these tests on my body. It was a lot of pain.”
On the night of the accident on February 16 2012, Kevin had gone to meet Jenny, a dancer and singer, after a rehearsal. It was raining and Kevin went ahead on his scooter while she followed in the car.
“I didn’t really see what happened,” Jenny said. “I think he tried to go through the yellow traffic light. He tried to brake and he fell. The bike just flew away but other people came out on a green light and just flew into his head.”
Kevin lost his sight in his left eye in the accident but the family are now looking to the future and may even move back to Scotland.
“The doctors think he’s just a miracle,” said Jenny.