Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Paula Apostoles opens up about her son Harrison’s recovery after he was hit by a car in Bees Creek

Transcript

Paula Apostoles opens up about her son Harrison’s recovery after he was hit by a car in Bees Creek · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: You might recall towards the end of last year, it
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: was a story.
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  Speaker 2: I think this.
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  Speaker 1: Really shook us all. An eight year old boy struck
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  Speaker 1: by a car in Bee's Creek. It happened just last
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  Speaker 1: year after leaving to walk. Well, well, now he is
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  Speaker 1: learning to walk and talk again. Little Harrison and his
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  Speaker 1: family this week have actually been out meeting the paramedics,
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  Speaker 1: the doctors, and the nurses who saved his life. Now
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  Speaker 1: joining me on the line right now is eight year
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  Speaker 1: old Harrison's mum, Paula Upholstal. Is sorry, Paula if I've
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  Speaker 1: pronounced that name wrong. Good morning to you.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning coming.
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  Speaker 2: Oh thanks so much for your time this morning. Paula.
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  Speaker 2: Can you just talk us.
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  Speaker 1: Through for those listeners who aren't aware of exactly what
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  Speaker 1: happened to your little fellow last year?
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  Speaker 2: What happened?
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  Speaker 4: So when Harrison was getting off the bus, I suppose
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  Speaker 4: just I don't know how to say it, because I
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  Speaker 4: certainly don't buy him the driver she was just as traumatized.
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  Speaker 3: As I wasn't the scene, So I think just too
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  Speaker 3: bad choice has caused an accident that day, and he
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  Speaker 3: was just very lucky the stars aligned and he had
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  Speaker 3: all the best paramedics on the scene that day put
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  Speaker 3: him in an injuice coma on the scene because he
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  Speaker 3: had a traumatic brain injury. And then he spent about
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  Speaker 3: two weeks in an induce in Darwin Hospital. And unfortunately
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  Speaker 3: in Darwin Hospital we have no pediatric neuro rehabs, so
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  Speaker 3: they're more off to Adelaide's for the last ten weeks
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  Speaker 3: and he's been doing intensive neuro rehab which was five
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  Speaker 3: days a week, and he's doing really well. The world Now, Okaydie.
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  Speaker 1: I'm so happy to hear that, Paula, tell me how
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  Speaker 1: Look is he back to himself?
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  Speaker 2: How's he going?
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  Speaker 3: He's getting there? He still really struggles with headaches. He
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  Speaker 3: still speaks very slowly.
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  Speaker 4: Is that him in the background she makes telling me
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  Speaker 4: he's got a headache.
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  Speaker 3: He still struggles with his concentration. He still gets very
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  Speaker 3: tired and sometimes needs a wheelchair, especially long distances. It'll
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  Speaker 3: be a while before he gets back to school. But look,
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  Speaker 3: his prognosis in the beginning was not very good, and
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  Speaker 3: he's beat all the odds and he's come back with
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  Speaker 3: flying colors.
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  Speaker 1: What an absolute little legend. He sounds like he is. Paula,
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  Speaker 1: how are you going it? Must have been so bloody
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  Speaker 1: hard for you.
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  Speaker 3: I now I've got home. I've actually got a bit
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  Speaker 3: of a cold. I think I've just wrung myself rugged.
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  Speaker 3: But now we're filing home and I can sort of
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  Speaker 3: relax a bit. I think I'm just you know, everything's
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  Speaker 3: taken over.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, now we got home.
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  Speaker 3: All I wanted to do it was Sangreys, fantastic paramedics
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  Speaker 3: and ICU in nexes and doctors that not only supported
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  Speaker 3: him but supported me. Yeah, it's fantastic paper we've got
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  Speaker 3: out there. And those paramedics what they did is they
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  Speaker 3: were the ones who give him a chance at survival.
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  Speaker 2: You know, they are incredible.
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  Speaker 3: And the police and that's right, and the police that
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  Speaker 3: we're all there on the scene.
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  Speaker 1: Look, I can't imagine the trauma you know that you've
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  Speaker 1: gone through and that little Harrison's gone through, and you
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  Speaker 1: know what the paramedics, what the police, what those first
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  Speaker 1: responders do in the first instance is just unbelievable. But
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  Speaker 1: you know you must be feeling like you're indebted to them.
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  Speaker 3: I certainly do. And that's why as soon as we
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  Speaker 3: got back, I had to do it. And you know,
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  Speaker 3: I absolutely blew my mind is Harrison is the first
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  Speaker 3: in the twenty six years of him made a paramedic.
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  Speaker 3: He's the first patient to come back and thank them.
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  Speaker 2: Oh goodness, man, have went.
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  Speaker 3: My life without doing it at all? Goodness I'm about
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  Speaker 3: Without them, he wouldn't be here.
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  Speaker 1: So oh, Paula, I mean what you know, what would
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  Speaker 1: you say about those first responders, but also all of
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  Speaker 1: those health staffed stuff that have helped.
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  Speaker 2: Your little boy.
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  Speaker 3: They're just amazing. They are one of the kind that
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  Speaker 3: put on the earth to do their job because they
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  Speaker 3: are just one of a kind people helping people through
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  Speaker 3: the hardest time in their life and they're supporting just
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  Speaker 3: amazing people.
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  Speaker 1: How did you feel when you saw them? How did
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  Speaker 1: you feel when you saw them earlier in the weekend?
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  Speaker 2: How did they feel?
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  Speaker 3: Well? I couldn't tape it together.
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  Speaker 1: I was so.
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  Speaker 3: Emotional. I wanted to document would get back to load paramedics.
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  Speaker 3: I bet look, I wanted to breed up. Like the
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  Speaker 3: road safety when the side of it came. People just
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  Speaker 3: need to remind their kids about the road rules and
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  Speaker 3: people just need to slow down.
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  Speaker 1: You spot on and you know, Paula, it's a it's
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  Speaker 1: a worry, hey, Like whether it's around schools. I know
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  Speaker 1: that this was it on bees Creek Road. I know
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  Speaker 1: it's a you know, it's a different sort of situation.
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  Speaker 1: But when kids are little, they don't think about road
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  Speaker 1: safety in the same way that you or I would,
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  Speaker 1: you know, and we've all just got to be so
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  Speaker 1: aware of that.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, that's right, and we all need to way down.
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  Speaker 3: And I think think some foot parts on road will
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  Speaker 3: go astray, or some bus stops where there's an actual
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  Speaker 3: bus stop where cards have to stop behind the bus
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  Speaker 3: instead of going around the bus. There's so many things
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  Speaker 3: that sort of help the situation.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, Paula, we've been speaking about that actually last week,
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  Speaker 1: and we had we had wondered that whether you know,
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  Speaker 1: we should be in a situation here we're along b
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  Speaker 1: Screek Road, whether it does need to be either a
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  Speaker 1: bus stop, some signage or a footpath to make sure
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  Speaker 1: that the kids are safe.
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  Speaker 3: That's the Yeah, one hundred percent agree. And me and
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  Speaker 3: my daughter talks about one's parishes. But I still needs
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  Speaker 3: a lot of therapy that that will be our lets focus.
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  Speaker 1: You know, well, Paula, I'd be more than happy to
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  Speaker 1: try and help you, you know, have you on the
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  Speaker 1: show to try and to help you to really raise
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  Speaker 1: that awareness and to try and lobby if you want
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  Speaker 1: to force something.
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  Speaker 3: Like that, absolutely, Katie. Yeah, I just need to get
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  Speaker 3: Harrison back to where he needs to be and then
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  Speaker 3: my focus can switch to that.
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  Speaker 1: Paula, how have you like? How have you been through
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  Speaker 1: all of this? You know, I know, I know you focus.
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  Speaker 1: You're a mum, You're a beautiful mum and I can
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  Speaker 1: hear that in your voice. Your focus is holy and
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  Speaker 1: solely on on your son and your children right now.
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  Speaker 2: But how have you been?
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  Speaker 3: I've been really good? Like I say, I just whatever,
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  Speaker 3: how and age I was going to do. It's a
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  Speaker 3: mum thing, isn't that. Yeah. I've been positive. I've stayed
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  Speaker 3: happy and positive. To get the environment to him, I
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  Speaker 3: had to stay at the hospital. We were in the
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  Speaker 3: hospital for six weeks in Adelaide, and then we went
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  Speaker 3: to the Ronald McDonald house and just walked back for
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  Speaker 3: their You know what, I didn't really think about it.
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  Speaker 3: You do what you've got to do with a mum.
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  Speaker 2: What a bloody wonderful mum you are.
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  Speaker 1: And Paula, well, you're our territory and of the week
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  Speaker 1: this week as well. You get yourself a voucher for
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  Speaker 1: Malone's butchery out there at Gateway. I'm so glad that
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  Speaker 1: Harrison's on the road to recovery, and I'm so glad.
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  Speaker 5: That you're doing well. Paula, stop it. I am a
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  Speaker 5: crier from way back. You're going to get me going
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  Speaker 5: and I won't be able to stop. Paula, you are incredible.
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  Speaker 1: Honestly, any parent listening this morning, I think is going
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  Speaker 1: to be crying their eyes out as well thinking about
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  Speaker 1: what you've been.
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  Speaker 2: Through and your eight year old boy. What a little
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  Speaker 2: legend he is.
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  Speaker 1: I'd love to meet him at some point, so I'm
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  Speaker 1: sure next time you're in town, if you're around the
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  Speaker 1: radio station, come and say get a but Paula, we
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  Speaker 1: will make sure that we've got your details so that
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  Speaker 1: you can get your voucher because you are a very
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  Speaker 1: worthy Territorian of the Week this week. Thank you so much, Paula,
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  Speaker 1: Thank you, thanks for having a chat with us this morning.
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  Speaker 1: All my love and best wishes to you and your
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  Speaker 1: beautiful family.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you, thank you.