Headaches that turned into a nightmare for Sydney family

Ronan Osborne was a happy, healthy kid when he started complaining of a headache to his mum, Amy. Nobody could have imagined what was to come next.

When five-year-old Ronan Osborne began complaining about a sore head, his mum Amy thought it was because he wasn’t drinking enough water.

“I did the mum thing and said he needed to drink more water. I thought it was probably because it was summer,” he said.

“We took him to the GP who told me to monitor him and bring him back if it continues.”

On a Sunday almost three weeks later, Amy – who had been getting ready to go to church – found her son curled up on the loungeroom floor.

Vomiting and lethargic, by the time the Osborne family had driven back to the GP, Ronan was “like a sack of potatoes on my shoulder,” Amy said.

Amy Osborne with her son Ronan at their home in Allambie Heights. Picture: Tim Hunter.

“The GP took one look at him and said he needed to go to hospital.”

From that moment, the Allambie Heights family knew this was more than just a normal headache.

Rushed to Royal North Shore Hospital before being transferred to Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, for scans, the Osbornes were told that “something” at the back of their son’s brain “looked alarming”, Amy said.

“No-one before then had said anything about stroke,” she said.

“I mean, kids don’t have strokes right?”

But after an emergency MRI, that was exactly what the Osbornes were told their son was having – a major stroke.

Ronan hitching a ride with his big sister Jenaya. Picture: Tim Hunter.

A family meeting was called. The Osbornes were told the next 24-48 hours were critical. Ronan would undergo blood clot retrieval surgery. A piece of skull would be removed to take the pressure off his brain. The rest would be up to him.

“We didn’t know if he was going to make it and if he did, what kind of life would he be left with,” Amy said.

Ronan made it through the first 24 hours. After he made it through 48 hours, another family meeting was called where the Osbornes were warned of possible after-effects of a stroke from possible damage to the brain.

“We were mentally preparing for a child that would be severely disabled, with oxygen tubes and feeding tubes,” Amy said.

“We didn't know if he would ever be able to eat without a feeding tube, or breathe on his own.”

After a week in intensive care, doctors attempted to remove his breathing tubes only to reinsert them after Ronan failed to breathe on is own.

Ronan Osborne in hospital recovering from his stroke with his mother Amy. Picture: Supplied

Ronan Osborne from Manly Vale is recovering from a blood clot that caused multiple strokes. Pictu

Trying again a few days later, managed to take his first breaths by himself, allowing him to move out of intensive care into a general ward.

“He had some movement, but he couldn’t talk. He was still fed on a tube. We had a child that was conscious, but there were still lots of unknowns,” Amy said.

After three-and-a-half months in hospital, Ronan was discharged.

While he regained his speech, and ability to walk, there were still signs that his body was still recovering.

“He had a lot of trouble with vomiting,” Amy said.

Now nine, doctors are astounded at Ronan’s progress, Amy said.

“To the untrained eye, he looked like any normal, functioning nine-year-old. He can walk, run and swim, but he does get a bit wobbly when he’s tired – just general balance and co-ordination – and he’s a little slower to take up reading and writing,” she said.

“They say most of the improvement occurs two years after a stroke, and then it tapers of, but Ronan continues to amaze us. He gives everything a go.

Ronan with his parents Wayne and Amy and his sister Jenaya. He is able to live a healthy life after suffering a stroke as a five-year-old. Picture: Tim Hunter.

As for Ronan himself, who remain on daily medication, he is proud of the “zipper” on the back of his head, which he shows off to his school friends after a fresh haircut, Amy said.

“When they ask how he got it, he just says he had a really bad headache and so had to go to hospital.” she said.

According to the Stroke Foundation, stroke affects about 600 children in Australia every year with many of the causes unknown.

The Osbornes themselves have undergone multiple tests, including genetic, to find answers as to why Ronan suffered a stroke, but to no avail.

Treasurer Dominic Perrottet will on Saturday announce a $50 million Neurosciences Comprehensive Care and Research Centre (NCCRC) to bolster research while improving the treatment of children with severe and complex neurological disorders from brain tumours to stroke.

The centre, to be built as part of Stage 1 of the $608 million Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick redevelopment, will bring together clinical specialties and services into the one location.

“This $50 million investment will bring together in one central location a range of clinical

specialties and services, including comprehensive care for developmental and nervous

system disorders involving the brain, spinal cord, muscles and nerves,” Mr Perrottet said.

Originally published as Headaches that turned into a nightmare for Sydney family