Ryan Smith returns home after four-month coma

  • 5 years ago
This is the jubilant moment a teenager who suffered serious brain damage when his bicycle was hit by a van arrived home for the first time in 14 months. Ryan Smith, 17, was left in a coma fighting for his life after he decided not to wear a helmet because he was worried it would spoil his fashionable hair style. He remained in hospital for almost a year following the accident on July 22 last year which happened as he cycled near the seaside village of Chapel St Leonards, Lincs. At the time his dad Mark released a heartbreaking image of him cradling his son as he lay unconscious in a hospital bed in the hope it would encourage cyclists to wear helmets. The family were told by doctors that Ryan would probably not survive and even if he did would be severely disabled for the rest of his life and might not walk again. But in November last year they were overjoyed when the teen spoke for the first time after he came out of his four-month coma when he uttered the words: "Hello, Mum and Dad".

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