MIGHTY TYSON: Tyson Martin yesterday underwent surgery he and his father David hope will change his life. The next challenge is getting him safely home from Westmead to the Eurobodalla.
He's faced many challenges in his short life, but yesterday Eurobodalla teen Tyson Martin braved another when he underwent surgery at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.
The 13-year-old normally is in a wheelchair but must spend the next month or more flat on his back recovering from major hip surgery.
Tyson and dad David Martin hope it will change his life.
Tyson has quadriplegic cerebral palsy and Mr Martin hopes his hip will develop better after the surgery.
“It will allow his hip to grow properly, help him walk in his heart walker better, which will help him work his bowel system better,” Mr Martin said, the day before leaving their Sunshine Bay home for Westmead.
“There are many benefits.”
Tyson’s next challenge is getting home. He was able to travel in a car to Westmead, but Mr Martin said his fatherly anxiety in the lead-up to the trip was compounded by being told he would have to arrange transport home himself.
“I rang the hospital to see what arrangements were being made for my son to come home and they said we are not supplying any transport whatsoever,” Mr Martin said.
“Because of the nature of the operation, they have to cut bone, the surgeon will not plaster over open wounds, so therefore you have nothing structural to hold everything in place.
“Tyson is not allowed to sit up for a minimum of five weeks. Sitting up in a car is not an option. That would damage all his work and bouncing in an ambulance would do the same.
“They are cutting his bones because he is not fully grown and they have to put bone chips in place to wedge it.
“The only real way I can see is an aeroplane flight to Moruya, but that still gives us another half hour bumping around (by road to Sunshine Bay).
“A helicopter is the best option. For my child’s best interests, it is probably the safest, not to damage the doctor’s work so he does not have to have it again.”
Mr Martin yesterday was feeling more confident after a pre-operation conference with staff.
“The hospital apparently tells everybody that there is no transport supplied, the reason is that some people ask for transport for ridiculous reasons,” Mr Martin said.
“But the young lady said they would provide transport home, being an air transport, not a car transport. I will wait and see.”
Before he left, Tyson admitted to being “a little bit worried” about the surgery.
He went under anaesthetic yesterday and the operation was expected to take four hours.
“He seemed quite jovial and happy and he went under the anaesthetic all right,” Mr Martin said.
