Harmony Jones, 11, discharged after brain surgery following an unfortunate game of chasey

An 11-year-old schoolgirl has finally been discharged from hospital after a horrible incident at school nearly took her life.

Harmony Jones at her home in Gawler River. Picture: Ben Clark

An 11-year-old schoolgirl spent nine days in hospital after a traumatic incident in an innocent game of chasey, which threatened her life and resulted in emergency brain surgery.

Harmony Jones and her peers were playing a game of chasey during their school PE class in the gymnasium when disaster struck.

Harmony’s legs got tangled with a boy’s and as she was falling, she smacked her head against the concrete wall and briefly lost her sight and hearing.

The incident resulted in a subdural haemorrhage, meaning she suffered a substantial bleed and sizeable blood clot between the skull and the surface of her brain, which required emergency surgery.

The surgery was a success and after nine days, Harmony was discharged on Thursday.

Harmony Jones is recovering. Picture: GoFundMe

Harmony Jones had a serious internal brain injury. Picture: GoFundMe

Mum Bianca Jones said she walked into the Women’s and Children’s Hospital on Thursday believing she would be staying beside Harmony’s bed for yet another night, with doctors waking them every four hours to complete their observations.

Instead, she and her other two daughters learnt Harmony – after many emotionally exhausting days – was being discharged.

“I didn’t expect we’d be discharged but Harmony got a green tick of approval to come home,” Ms Jones said. “And the girls, they were so excited. I’ve never seen a room get packed up as quickly as it did by three little girls when they found out Harmony could go home.

“They were on a high, they were all jumping around, happy, laughing, giggling.”

Ms Jones and husband Corey said they were “woo-hooing” all the way along the expressway as their family of five made their way home to Gawler River.

Harmony Jones with her parents Corey and Bianca, at their home in Gawler River, SA. Pictured on May 10th 2025. Picture: Ben Clark

Ms Jones remembered watching Harmony’s old self slowly come back as she walked through the front door of their home.

“She really picked up as she came through the home,” Ms Jones said. “Her old self started slowly returning – especially to be back with the two dogs and two cats and her own room and bed.

“Although she did crash a little bit afterwards as Harmony still has some of that mental fatigue from the accident.”

Mr Jones said they let the three sisters reunite and sleep in the same bedroom the night Harmony came home..

“The girls are obviously really close,” he said. “And I found myself waking up throughout the night and looking at the three little heads poking out of the blankets and feeling complete and utter happiness.”

Harmony Jones, 11 and her sisters Maddison, 12 and Violet, 8. Picture: Ben Clark

Ms Jones said: “Sometimes I catch myself getting really emotional when talking about the most random parts of the recovery. It’s hard because we now understand how Harmony’s life was on the line.”

The parents urged others to learn the basics of first-aid training and concussion treatment, which would allow lives to be saved – especially to look for behavioural changes when there are no physical injuries.

Harmony still has a long road to recovery. Her head is wrapped in a silk bonnet while her scars heal. Her left wrist was broken and right arm fractured.

On top of that, Harmony can cope with only low-level mental stimulation, meaning she will be homeschooled temporarily and for the time being won’t be able to do some of her favourite things including drama and swimming lessons.

But there are things to cherish like spending time with her sisters and friends and planning for a family holiday at Renmark.