A GoFundMe page has been launched by the family of a farm accident survivor.
On April 8th, 2020, Jonny Mulligan was involved in a farm accident whereby he came off a quad on a main road and sustained a horrific brain injury.
He was rushed to Cavan Hospital and the air ambulance was cancelled as the paramedic team “did not think he would even make it to Cavan Hospital never mind Beaumont Hospital”.
The medical team in Cavan managed to stabilise Jonny and prepared him for the journey to Beaumont.
When he reached Beaumont, doctors had already reviewed his CT scan from Cavan. Their initial assumption was that they were not going to be able to even operate on Jonny as the injury he had sustained was so severe.
“When the Neurosurgeon looked into Jonathan’s eye in that split second, his pupil flickered, which indicated, there was some brain activity and they decided to operate on Jonny.” his family explained in a note on the fundraiser page.
‘The likelihood of Jonny making it to midnight was very slim’
“We were then taken into a relative’s room and told that the likelihood of Jonny making it to midnight was very slim.”
“To receive news like this is so hard to express in words. It feels like all your worst nightmares are coming true and that it can’t be real.”
“We were only joking and chatting with Jonny a few hours earlier but even after being told something like this, we all still truly believed that Jonny would pull through.”
“We knew he was a fighter and we knew we had to stay positive for Jonny and pray for a miracle that he would make it through the night and we are so very thankful that he did.”
Negative outlook from medical team
The outlook that the medical team gave for Jonny was not positive – they advised that he may be in a coma for a long period of time and that if he came out of it, he may require long-term support to breathe.
They also said that he could go into cardiac arrest or be left in a vegetated state. It was also said that he would most likely be fed through a tub for the rest of his life, that he would not regain movement in his body and that he most likely would never speak or understand speech because that “part of the brain was completely gone”.
Two weeks after the accident, Jonny came off the ventilator and was put on a tracheostomy.
To everyone’s surprise, three days later, he started to breathe on his own. This, according to the family, was the first massive step in his recovery.
Shortly after, Jonny opened his eyes and then he spoke for the first time. “We got to Facetime Jonny that day and to hear him speak and hear his voice after so many weeks was just absolutely incredible.”
“We asked him how are feeling and his reply was ‘I’m not so bad, how’s yourself’ and we all just cried with happiness, it was absolutely amazing.”
Update
Fast forward a couple of weeks and Jonny was transferred to Cavan Hospital. He was then moved to Monaghan Rehabilitation Hospital where he is currently undergoing physiotherapy, speech and language and occupational therapy.
Jonny was due to have his Cranioplasty surgery on October 20th but this has been rescheduled.
Once he undergoes this, it is planned to go to the NRH in Dun Laoghaire for intense rehabilitation. “Jonny has a long road ahead of him, but his drive and determination will get him through the remainder of his recovery.”
“Jonny has not got full movement on his right side yet and he has yet to regain his eyesight back.”
‘We believe Jonny will make a full recovery’
“We believe through positivity and prayers that Jonny will make a full recovery and will continue to defy every odd.”
“Jonny is very focused on coming back home and one day hopes to return to his job as a civil engineer in Dublin.”
“We are required to make changes to our house and build an extension suitable for Jonny’s needs and purchase any equipment that is required for Jonny.”
“With that, there are huge costs involved. This is our reason for setting up the Go Fund Me page to help with these associated costs.”
“It would be a dream come true to have our Jonny back home to us. Any and all donations would mean the world to us!”
“We will continue to keep you updated on Jonny’s progress. Thank you all so much for your support.” the Mulligan family concluded.
Information
To make a donation, click here.
