Getting a Second Chance as a Young Brain Injury Survivor

Hello, my name is Joey Ho, and I am now a 16-year-old teenager from Northern Ireland. I may seem like your average little girl, but I tell you, I am much more. Unbeknownst to many of you, this is my second life.

In March 2018, I began to feel rather unwell, and it all started with me falling out of bed in the morning and screaming that I could not get up. Soon that scream became a faint whisper. I went to get checked out by my GP, but he saw nothing wrong with me — until I returned the next day, my legs unable to move, my body an inescapable chasm holding the little life I had left. It was clear something was wrong with me, but he didn’t know what, so he sent me to the children’s hospital in Belfast. Nurses, doctors, everyone surrounded me, rushing to my aid.

My brain was filled with right subdural empyema, and a burr hole evacuation procedure was performed that same day. Next was a craniotomy whereby the bone flap was placed in my abdomen. I hadn’t the strength to breathe by myself and was intubated, along with being hooked to a ventilator in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit. My eyes peered open, and I was surrounded by white. I thought I had died, that this was where it ended. However, God sent me down once more to fight for what was rightfully mine, and that was the right to live.

When I woke up, I was surrounded by a cascade of nurses, machines, therapists and my family. I tried to speak, but my voice was robbed of its sound. I tried to move, but my left side had no movement. I was affected by vocal cord palsy and was unable to eat for over a month, only surviving from my NG tube and fluids. My left side was immobilized by hemiparesis, and I felt stuck in my own body, unable to break free.

These next few months would be the most strenuous and challenging months of my life. Every day I underwent extensive IV antibiotic treatment to treat the infection of my brain, physiotherapy to treat my leg movement, and occupational therapy to treat my fine motor skills and to restore any faith I had for a future as a musician. I was speechless throughout, without a voice, with little hope and happiness. Recovery seemed bleak, like a distant future that would never become reality, but it did. It really did. In June, there stood as a 13-year-old girl who defied reality and became a superhero.

There were times and still are times when I question why this happened to me, why I was chosen, but this has been one of the best things to ever happen to me. I have learned that I am stronger than I think I am, this is my second life, and it was given to me for a reason. I have a purpose in life, and that purpose is to share my story and encourage others. Take it from a 16-year-old in 2021, who still struggles with epilepsy and seizures, that life will throw obstacles at you, but put up a good fight and I believe they will fall and quiver at your knees.

I do not believe that I am lucky, but I believe that I was chosen for a reason. I want to be the voice for children and teenagers who don’t have a voice, who can’t speak up, who don’t know how to fight. For I am their fighting spirit, and I want people to contact me if they are struggling, because I will be your fighter, I will fight with you, for you, and alongside you. Today, I seem like your average girl, but deep inside, I was made different, I was born different, I am different.