Regaining a Childhood
JULIE LEFEBVE
One moment Scarlett Stockley was a healthy, talented nine-year-old, and the next, suffered a stroke following a severe brain bleed in the middle of a gymnastics class. She has been recovering in hospital for a good part of the past year since that childhood-changing moment.
She’s a little warrior who has had to relearn the basics of life such as walking and talking but she needs help – which is where you come in.
A grand fundraising event has been organised for 4 October at The Dolphin Inn, Hastings, which is owned by Scarlett’s grandparents, Mark and Maureen Little. Starting midday, there will be a bake sale, games, a raffle and more. In addition, a group of friends led by Matthew Warbling and Jamie Lewis have arranged a walk covering more than 70 miles over four days from Kings College Hospital, Denmark Hill (where Scarlett has been a patient) to The Dolphin Inn, arriving around 5pm on the pub’s Big Day. In the evening, from 8pm, there will be live music.
The money Matthew, Jamie and others raise will go towards Scarlett’s ongoing care and rehabilitation plus the Ronald McDonald House Charities, which provides free hospitality for the families of young patients, allowing parents, grandparents and siblings to stay close by. It’s been a real boon to Scarlett’s family and they’d like to acknowledge them in their fundraising efforts.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for the charity walk at gofundme.com/f/scarlett-and-the-ronald-mcdonald-house.
Scarlett’s most recent surgery was an operation to fit a metal plate in her skull, part which had to be removed due to an infection, that took place in January on her 10th birthday. Scarlett’s mother, Laura, says: “I’m hoping and praying that this is the last hospital stay so that we can really make progress with Scarlett’s rehab. At the moment it seems we take a step forward and then a step back because Scarlett gets called back into hospital.
“I know I’m in denial a bit and want to prove the doctors wrong: I want Scarlett to enjoy a normal childhood.”
And Laura believes it’s possible with the rehabilitation facility Neurokinex in Crawley, and the help of her school, All Saints C of E school, which has discussed a staggered return to studies with Laura and her husband, Lee.
During the past year, Laura and Lee have learnt an awful lot about the condition that actually caused the brain bleed: arteriovenous malformation (AVM). It’s a little-known condition that disrupts normal blood flow and oxygen circulation to the brain.
Laura has set up an Instagram account @scarlettavmwarrior and Facebook page, Scarlett AVM warrior, to share Scarlett’s journey with others going through the same experience. By chance, on the day of this interview, Laura heard from the family of a young boy in the US who also had AVM and wanted to connect.
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