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A teenager's sudden bleed on the brain which left him unable to walk or talk has sparked a wave of generosity – and inspired him to set up a charity.
When Cllr Heather Hayward's son Sam said he had a headache after returning from school on December 11, his mum thought nothing of it.
It was only when he wouldn't come down for dinner at his home in Ashford, and his sister Alexia went to check on him, they realised something serious was happening.
They found the then-14-year-old vomiting, fitting and barely conscious and ambulances arrived rapidly after Mrs Hayward, who represents the Roman ward on Ashford Borough Council, made a 999 call.
After a CT scan at the William Harvey Hospital, it was discovered he'd had a bleed on the brain and Sam was rushed to King's College Hospital in a harrowing ambulance ride.
A previously undiscovered arteriovenous malformation had ruptured, leading to pressure on the brain and a blood clot.
Emergency surgeries immediately followed his arrival and, upon his sedation being turned off, Cllr Hayward tested her son's cognitive skills by asking about his favourite subject – trains.
Through hand squeezes, they learnt his encyclopaedic locomotive knowledge hadn't been affected, but there was no knowing how he had been impacted physically.
Ashford Independent representative Cllr Hayward, 43, said: "He was on a ventilator for the first 48 hours or so, very distressed and unable to speak or walk.
"It was really very demoralising for him, and gut-wrenching for all of us."
Days of physio and speech therapy ensued at the London hospital, and soon the Homewood School pupil was able to walk short distances unaided.
Despite being in hospital for 25 days over the Christmas period, Sam returned to Ashford on January 5 and quickly settled back into home life.
Homewood offered Sam part-time sessions to help with his recovery. He was helped by teacher Ronan Friel to devise a model railway club at the school called 'Ride the Rails club'.
The effort was assisted by Sam's friend Andy, who posted on the Thanet NextDoor website about Sam's plight and his hopes for a school model railway club.
The post was met with widespread support, with many offering to donate parts and entire layouts.
A woman from Thanet offered her late husband's layout and model railway collection for free, and the marketing director of Hornby got in touch to ask how they could help the Ride the Rails club.
"We've been blown away by people's generosity – we have been absolutely inundated with offers," Cllr Hayward, who lives in Kingsnorth Road, said.
"So much so that we don't have the room to store it, so we saw an opportunity to share the donations with a wider audience.
"The Homewood school Ride the Rails club will be our pilot 'hands on' family-friendly model railway club, with the view to rolling out similar clubs in the Ashford area as donations allow."
The family has now received so much model railway stuff, they are registering a charity – Sam's Tracks – to allow people to experience the hobby for the first time and provide some free starter kits to children.
Sam's recovery to date has been highly praised by doctors, aided by helper Oliver Stevens.
Cllr Hayward said: "Sam's doing brilliantly – he's proved everyone wrong as we were told there's a high chance he'd never walk again and that he'd need long-term care. But he's been doing incredibly.
"We've had Oliver coming over four days a week to help him do his therapy for three hours a day, and that's been a massive help.
"Sam never gives up, he's so determined, and the fact he's hopefully going to turn this into something positive, to help other families and create opportunities for other people, makes me so proud."
