A teenager so badly injured doctors suggested turning off his
life support is returning home to Blenheim eight months after
being hit by a train.
Steven Evans, 18, was a passenger in a car which was struck
by a train at a railway crossing in Grovetown, 5km north of
Blenheim, in September last year.
He suffered brain injuries, spinal injuries, broken ribs and
internal injuries. He was treated in intensive care in
Wellington Hospital, before being transferred to the spinal
unit at Burwood Hospital, Christchurch, where he has spent
the last six months.
He is due to return home on June 10 and continue his
rehabilitation at Wairau Hospital in Blenheim.
Medical specialists predicted the worst and as Steven lay in
a coma family members were asked whether they wanted his
life-support systems switched off.
They refused.
Steven's mother Sheryl Ruffell said his level of recovery had
flummoxed health authorities.
"He's the only person in New Zealand to have survived such
injuries," she told the Marlborough Express.
Steven could not speak on his own, but had been fitted with a
tracheostomy respiratory aid, and was starting to talk
through it.
He could also use a computer by typing with his right index
finger.
His recovery was going to be a "long, gradual process", but
Steven had "fantastic" support from family and friends, Mrs
Ruffell said.
The driver of the car Steven's friend, teenager Christopher
Evans (no relation), was this week convicted in Blenheim
District Court of careless driving.
He was disqualified from driving for two years and ordered to
pay Steven $10,000 reparation for emotional harm.
