Fintan, 17, from Suffolk, suffered a major stroke just before his 15th birthday. He is now a member of our Youth Forum, helping shape how Cambridge Children's Hospital will look, feel and care.
You see those few seconds of silence … that’s how quickly my life changed, in a good or a bad way, it depends how you view it.
In 2023 I suffered a large interventricular brain haemorrhage, a few days before my 15th birthday. I was rushed to Addenbrooke’s hospital by air ambulance. Obviously, I can't remember any of this because I was in and out of consciousness and being ventilated. I have very vague memories of the start of my journey in hospital, but I've been told I was in intensive care, HDU and then the ward. This is where most of my memories from the hospital are from. I left after over a month of being there. I still need to have treatment on the AVM that caused my brain haemorrhage which will affect my life forever and I can't change that.
This has been traumatic for my family, my friends and me. It would be ridiculous for people not to think events of any sort in hospital don’t have a psychological effect on a person because, whether it’s a positive effect or negative effect, there's always an effect, no matter what. Whether that’s now, in five months, in five years, in ten years, whenever.
If there's not the support and help for someone to reach out for then how will that person ever truly recover? How will they move on from this life altering challenge? How will they be proud of themselves in the future?
Fintan
These are all questions that are asked in my mind and I'm sure anyone who has been in hospital as a child may have felt that way.
So, I feel that I want to help people who may go through something similar to me because I know how difficult it can be. This is why getting involved in the Cambridge Children’s Hospital project, through the Youth Forum, seemed a great way to express my ideas and share my experience with those who can provide that help for children.
I think the idea of mental and physical both being treated under one roof is an exceptional idea because mental health issues are really becoming more apparent and normalised, which is incredible. It means people can get the help they need when they need it. Doing that for young people who may feel too scared to ask is what truly made me want to join the Youth Forum and help those young people through what I have experienced.
I’d like to leave you with a quote: ‘Nothing changes, if nothing changes’