Caysie comes home

There’s no place like home: Caysie Clark and her mum, Kathy are both thrilled to be back at home after a month long stay in the Royal Children’s Hospital following Caysie’s accident.

KATHY Clark received one of the best Mother’s Day presents she could possibly ask for when her daughter Caysie came home from hospital just before Easter.
The mother of three feared the worst when Caysie fell two metres from a tree outside their Leongatha home, but six weeks later the 10-year-old is making an incredible recovery and settling back into normal life.
Mrs Clark said that at the time of the accident, she never imagined Caysie would be where she is today.
“In the first two weeks when she got up and walked, I didn’t even think that was possible with a fractured spine,” she said.
“And broken toes!” Caysie added.
“She’s got a really sore head and still has some lesions there from hitting it so hard, but her back hardly hurts and her collarbone doesn’t hurt too much,” Mrs Clark said.
In fact Caysie can barely sit still, excited to be back home with her friends and looking forward to going back to school part-time in a few weeks.
“She was pretty happy to see her friends. She was nearly running up to give them a big cuddle!” Mrs Clark said.
The family are delighted to all be together once again, with Caysie’s older sisters living between home and friends’ houses while Caysie was in hospital.
“We virtually all watched movies all week and just hung out at home, it was so nice,” Mrs Clark said.
“The girls really needed it too, even though Caysie’s fighting with her sisters again!”
Despite going through such a traumatic experience, Caysie’s stay in the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne was an enjoyable one.
She made lifelong friends with two little girls, Bella and Amelia.
Two-year-old Amelia ended up in the hospital after being kicked by a horse and Mrs Clark said the two families became close friends as they shared their experiences.
“We sort of both clung to each other a bit because we went through the same ICU stuff and that was great. They were my lifesavers in there,” she said.
“We’re going to keep in contact, and hopefully we’ll go and visit Amelia and her parents later in the year.”
Mrs Clark could not speak highly enough of the staff at the hospital.
“The social workers at the Royal Children’s were magnificent. They were there at your beck and call to go through the trauma stuff,” she said.
And while Caysie loved all the nurses at the hospital, she became close to one in particular.
“I had one favourite, Candice, because she played with me,” she said.
Mrs Clark said although there were lots of nurses, Candice just “clicked” with Caysie.
“Hopefully we can go back and say ‘g’day’ when we visit the hospital,” she said.
Most importantly, the Clark family would love to thank everyone for their love and support throughout their challenging time.
“The community as a whole was just so concerned. And the text messages and phone calls,  I know we never got back to them all, but we knew the whole community was just so worried. To have that behind you when you’re going through such a trauma is amazing,” she said.
“It’s just unbelievable, even still now. I’m a netball coach and there’s people ringing up saying ‘If you can’t do it, we’ll do it’ and ‘If you can’t get there, we’ll take your kids’. I just find it amazing. Everyone has just been wonderful and are continuing to be wonderful.”
Caysie will continue rehab for at least the next four months and will hopefully be able to stop wearing her neckbrace by the end of May, although she insists a month is “still too long!”
And Mrs Clark said her accident prone daughter will be keeping out of trees for a long time yet.
“She was at a friend’s birthday last year, and fell out and broke her left collarbone, so she’s broken both of them now,” she said of Caysie, who also required surgery on a broken wrist after a scooter accident while the family was on holidays in Pambula.
“She’s always outside. That’s what people in our street love about her. They always see her out and about,” Mrs Clark said.
“She was so strong and fit and I think that’s what helped her get through this.”
But Mrs Clark said after a long month, everything “is all good and positive now”.
“A happy ending. Definitely a happy ending.”

Short URL: /?p=1216

Posted by superadmin on May 3 2011. Filed under Community, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry