Emerging from a coma after near-fatal car crash, Luke Flatman only had a 30-second memory. Three years on, he still can’t remember anything from four months before the collision to six months after – but he’s slowly worked his way back to fitness and has just triumphed in his latest challenge – running the London Marathon.
When Luke Flatman crossed the finishing line to the London Marathon last Sunday, he’d come a lot further than 26.2 miles.
In February 2008, while in his final year at Hull University, Luke was involved in a horrific car crash that left him fighting for his life.
On the day of the accident, Luke was driving his girlfriend from the university’s Scarborough campus to York railway station so she could catch a train to Oxford, where she was at university. It was a journey the 25-year-old had made many times before but, just a few miles in, it changed Luke’s life forever.
“I don’t remember anything from the crash,” says Luke, sitting in his family home in Littleport. “I only know what I’ve been told, which is that me and another car were following a really slow lorry and the car in front tried to overtake and I followed. At the same time someone overtook another car coming in the other direction.
“The car in front of me found enough of a gap to get in front of the lorry and swerve out of the way, but there wasn’t enough for me or the other car that had been overtaking.”
Luke’s Ford Fiesta was in collision with the oncoming car near the village of Ganton, just a few miles southwest of Scarborough. The driver and passenger in the second vehicle, and Luke’s girlfriend, escaped the wreckage with minor injuries, but Luke had suffered massive brain trauma as well as injuries to his legs and collarbone.
“Apparently it took ages to get me out of the car,” says Luke. “I’ve been told I was conscious after the accident, but very confused.”
Luke was cut from his car and taken to Scarborough Hospital where he underwent an operation for his leg, foot and collarbone injuries. His right leg was so seriously damaged a large steel rod had to be inserted to repair it.
“I’m told I was conscious all of the time following the accident to arriving in hospital, but I was sedated for the orthopaedic operations and, from that stage, was in a coma for a week,” he explains.
When he came out of his coma, the extent of Luke’s brain injury became apparent. “One of the things after having a brain injury is that people tend to go into Post Traumatic Amnesia (PTA),” explains Luke. “So they get really confused and disorientated. I was in that for ages.”
Piecing together the events shortly before and after his accident is difficult for Luke as the brain injury he sustained means he has no recollection of that day.
In fact, when he came out of his coma, although he recognised his family and friends, he only had a 30-second memory and now, more than three years since the near-fatal crash, has no memory of his life from four months before the collision to six months after.
At the request of Luke’s parents, he was transferred to Addenbrooke’s so he would be closer to family and friends.
“I was put in my own room but I don’t remember that. Then I was put on a ward and I don’t remember that, and then I was put on another ward and that’s when my memory starts,” he says. “I’ve got hazy memories after about four months (after the accident). I’ve got what I could turn into two or three days of that time and all of those memories are from Addenbrooke’s, I can’t remember Scarborough at all.
“There’s a video of me in a hospital bed and I’m trying to work out where I am. My family keep having to tell me that I’ve had a car accident, and I’m in hospital because of that car accident. They’re running through the story and then a few seconds later I’ll look down and notice there’s a plaster cast on my foot and ask them what it’s there for, and then we’ll go through the whole conversation again. We just kept going round and round in circles. I was very confused.
“Apparently I watched Finding Nemo because they thought it would be nice to watch with me – something to do – and then after that I was convinced I was on holiday in Australia.”
After further hospital treatment Luke was transferred to the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Trust (BIRT) centre, Fen House, in Ely.
“I couldn’t be moved until I had come out of PTA and it took longer than the doctors had expected for me to come out of it,” says Luke. “That’s an indication of the severity of the brain injury. They were really scared that it would be more serious, but I was quite lucky.”
Luke’s memory was still very limited when he was admitted to Fen House and says that he ‘wasn’t really able to function properly’. “I was able to get dressed and eat and such, it was more about them teaching me to be able to understand what had happened to me. They really helped me to deal with the consequences of it.”
During his time at the residential rehabilitation centre, Luke’s treatment included speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and assessments to determine the tasks that he was having difficulty with.
“Fen House helped me loads,” he says. “They really helped me deal with the consequences of the crash. They taught me to be able to start remembering things again, not to get lost when I was out and about, and to be able to find where I am again, without panicking, if I forget.”
Unfortunately, Luke’s relationship with his girlfriend ended, but a year after the accident, with further support from Fen House, he returned to university to complete his degree in creative music technology and last year graduated with a very respectable 2:1.
Another box Luke wanted to tick was to get back behind the wheel. “I had to take a Capabilities Assessment to check that I was still healthy enough to drive, which I am. I kind of celebrated getting my licence back by hiring a car and visiting friends in Southampton. I’m not really nervous about driving, but I’m far more aware and take my time and leave lots of distance between me and people in front.”
And last weekend Luke conquered the latest challenge in his amazing recovery – the London Marathon. With support from Fen House, he rebuilt the strength in his legs and gradually progressed from jogging to running. “I did the marathon to raise money for BIRD who run Fen House. I hope it’s the first of many,” he smiles. “They were a massive help: I always thought it would be nice to give something back.”
With his time sheet proudly displayed on the fridge showing his impressive 4 hours and 24 minute result, despite his aching legs, Luke admits it was a great moment when he crossed the finish line.
“I didn’t get a massive sense of achievement because I was just so worn out,” he laughs, “but I was proud of myself. My mum and one of my best friends were there at the end.”
Luke, who is a former Ely Cathedral chorister, hopes to follow his dream to become a music producer and is determined not to let the effects of the accident stop his ambition.
“The main things that I’m having now from the brain injury are memory loss and fatigue, but my memory, I suppose, is the big one,” he admits.
“It’s likely that it won’t improve much more than it has done already. They’ve said I could notice improvements for up to five years after the accident but I’m not sure. It’s difficult really because I haven’t been able to see differences at all but I know I have improved because I used to have a 30 second memory.”
Writing things down and dividing his day into a timetable is one way he copes.
“I can remember events that have happened, but something that happened yesterday feels just the same as something that happened a couple of months ago. But I’m not the sort of person that dwells on something. I just take each thing as it comes and deal with it.”
source: cambridge-news.co.uk
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