Left: Ben Thompson has not left The Alfred hospital since he was assaulted in Cranbourne in June and left in a coma.By Sarah Schwager
THE devastating assault of a young Cranbourne man, which left him in a coma, has sparked the issue of care and rehabilitation for young victims of crime.
Ben Thompson, 22, was punched in the face outside his home on 27 June, causing him to fall backwards and hit his head on the concrete.
Mr Thompson was rushed to The Alfred hospital and required urgent brain surgery.
He was not expected to survive.
Miraculously, he did but he has now been left in a vegetative state, cannot communicate or make any voluntary movements and is fed through a peg in his stomach.
Mr Thompson’s mother, Robyn Thompson, said the incident had rocked the family.
“Our family has been totally devastated and our grief and trauma are ongoing,” she said.
“Ben was such a vibrant, positive, giving, loving young man and to see him how he is now is shattering.”
Ms Thompson said the issue now was that there was nowhere for her son to go and the family was faced with putting him in an elderly persons’ nursing home.
“The care at The Alfred has been first-class,” she said.
“But the reality is that it is a trauma hospital, not a rehabilitation facility.
“If this was a WorkCover or TAC issue he would already be in rehab, but because he is a victim of crime he can only go public.”
Ms Thompson said she was disappointed there was such limited funding for the care and rehabilitation of young acquired brain injury (ABI) patients.
According to the Young People In Nursing Homes National Alliance, more than 6500 young Australians are forced to live in nursing homes because they have nowhere else to go.
Ms Thompson has been working closely with another parent of a victim of crime, Andrew Macready-Bryan.
Mr Macready-Bryan, along with his family, has set up a foundation to provide rehabilitation for his son James and other young ABI patients after James was assaulted when he was out celebrating his 20th birthday in October 2006, and fell and hit his head.
Mr Thompson was moving house with his girlfriend the day of the incident.
Detective Senior Constable Ray Ross from Cranbourne CIU said about 3pm on 27 June, someone showed up at the house regarding a dispute over a debt, walked up to Mr Thompson and punched him once to the right side of the face.
“For one punch his life was pretty well finished,” he said.
“The parents, what they’re going to have to go through, that’s really the sad thing about it.
“He was a good kid.
“He hasn’t got any priors to speak of.”
Det Sen Const Ross said police had interviewed someone and inquiries were being completed, but no charges had yet been laid over the incident.
He said because Mr Thompson was still alive, the offender would likely be charged with recklessly causing serious injury, but if he could get a more serious charge he would.
Ms Thompson said along with the devastation of losing a child, there was so much more to deal with.
“We cannot change what has happened but we want the best outcome for Ben that is possible, and going into an aged care facility at the age of 22 does not seem the best outcome,” she said. The family is in discussions with The Alfred to determine what Mr Thompson’s future holds.
A spokeswoman from The Alfred said due to the nature of Mr Thompson’s serious head injury, he required full-time care.
“We are currently trying to find a suitable place for him that will provide him with the high-level support that he needs,” she said.
“This can be challenging due to specific patient needs, especially someone of Ben’s age, however, we are working closely with Ben’s family and the various specialists to facilitate this.”
For more information on The James Macready-Bryan Foundation visit the website www.macready-bryan.com.
