More than two months after being struck by a vehicle while cycling in Stittsville, Ghost Padron is still in the hospital, fighting for life.
Doctors have said there’s
no chance of meaningful recovery
from the serious brain injury they received, but mother Leslie-Anne Barrett is celebrating every small step forward that Padron takes as she spends every day by their bedside.
On July 22, Padron was cycling down Sweetnam Drive south of Hazeldean Road and east of the Amberwood Village Golf Club when they were
hit by a vehicle
. They were transported to hospital with life-altering injuries.
Ottawa police announced on Tuesday that a 47-year-old man was
facing charges
of dangerous operation causing bodily harm and other offences under the Highway Traffic Act in connection with the July collision.
For Barrett, those charges don’t offer solace. Instead, she hopes they act as a call to action for drivers to be more aware of their surroundings.
“I just hope people see this and use it as a reference as to what can happen,” she said.
Neurologists told Barrett in August that Padron had a Grade Three diffuse axonal brain injury in addition to several broken bones. It’s a prognosis a small number of people can recover from, but doctors say Padron likely won’t be one of them.
Now Padron is waiting for a long-term care bed to open up at the Saint-Vincent Hospital, where they could receive around-the-clock care. Until then, they’re still in the trauma centre at the Civic campus of The Ottawa Hospital, living with a feeding tube and a tracheostomy breathing tube.
In addition to being primary caregiver for her own elderly mother, Barrett spends upwards of eight hours a day at hospital with Padron, talking, reading books, playing music and, together, looking out the hospital room window that Barrett has adorned with decorations.
“And sometimes we just sit in silence, which is something that is very intimate and very profoundly sad and beautiful at the same time,” Barrett said. “I’m looking at my sensitive child, who is in pain, and I’m praying and hoping that their pain will go away, and I keep telling them how strong they are every day.”
Despite the grim prognosis, Barrett says she’s not losing hope as she sees Padron take encouraging steps forward. Since coming out of a coma in mid-August, Padron has been regaining motion in the legs and right arm, tracking movement with both eyes and following some voice commands.
While still unable to speak because of the breathing tube in their neck, Padron is developing a physical communication system with their tongue to express phrases such as “thank you” and “I love you.”
“They sound like very small things, but for me they’re monumental,” Barrett said. “I’m not giving up until God or Ghost says, ‘That’s it.’”
Before the accident, Padron was preparing to go back to work as an outreach officer at the Somerset West Community Centre, supporting those dealing with substance addictions and homelessness. They are also an artist who enjoys drawing, painting and doing hair and makeup.
“They’re a very kind person, a very bright person, a very private person,” Barrett said. “So this whole thing, with everybody touching them and coming to look at them and talking about them, is a nightmare in every sense of the word for Ghost.”
While knowing Padron doesn’t like being thrust into the spotlight, Barrett hopes the attention on her family’s story can serve as an example of the importance of road safety, particularly on side roads such as Sweetnam Drive.
“Everybody’s figuring out how to get around the main arteries and they’re going through these little streets, and this is where the accidents are happening because you’ve got people walking their dogs or on their bikes,” she said.
“Hopefully this type of thing, unfortunately at the sacrifice of my kid, will make people think twice before they make a decision that potentially affects others.”
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