Grandmother Carol Dixon and aunt Jay Barden at Ryan's hospital bedside

by Gerry Warren

The family of a brain-damaged car crash victim want a specialist neurological bed for him at Kent and Canterbury Hospital.

Trainee chef Ryan Anderson, 20, has been in a coma since an accident on the Old Thanet Way 10 weeks ago.

He is being treated on an orthopaedic ward at Ashford’s William Harvey Hospital, but doctors say he cannot stay there indefinitely.

He requires round-the-clock nursing, and hospital medics say his longer-term care will need to be in a more specialised unit.

The family hoped he could be treated at the neuro-ward in Canterbury, but that is not suitable for his condition, so they now face the prospect of driving to Tonbridge every day to visit him.

His grandfather Peter Anderson said: “We just want the best possible environment for Ryan, where he has the best chance of improving.

“If that means a more stressful and lengthy drive, then so be it.

“But we are very disappointed there is no Level 2 A ward in East Kent where he could have gone.

Ryan before the crash

“Every other area of Kent has one, so why haven’t we?”

Ryan, of Northwood Road, Whitstable, suffered multiple injuries and catastrophic brain damage when his car hit a tree as he drove home from work at the Chestfield Barn on June 9.

His broken bones are healing and he has been taken off a life-support machine but he has not yet regained consciousness.

For up to 12 hours a day family members and friends, including mum Andria, brothers Craig, 18, Harrison, seven, and sister Charlotte, 15, take turns to sit at his bedside, talking to him and trying to unlock his silent world.

His aunt Jay Barden, a foster parent of Reservoir Road, Whitstable, said: “We hope that familiar voices and sounds will bring some sort of reaction.

"we are all worried about his future and we just want him to get the best possible therapy" – ryan's aunt jay barden

“Many of his friends come too. The ones from work call out ‘chef’ to him to remind him of the restaurant kitchen.”

His grandmother Carol Dixon, of Grasmere Avenue, Whitstable, is another regular visitor with his grandfather Peter.

She said: “We do things like touch his face with his hands and our faces with his hand. Anything to prompt his senses and try and get through to him.”

Jay added: “Obviously, we are all worried about his future and we just want him to get the best possible therapy. There is some hope that he might eventually even be able to go to Strode Park at Herne but his future is uncertain, which is adding to the stress.”

Jenny Thomas, assistant director of planned care for NHS Kent and Medway said: “We are terribly sorry to hear about this case, our thoughts are with his family and friends, and we will be looking into the matter with the relevant clinical staff.

“We commission a range of neuro-rehabilitation services across Kent and we strive to provide as much choice of rehabilitation care for patients as close as home as possible.

“Every case is different and we do have a number of processes for reviewing individual requests for specialist care and we will ensure that these have been offered to this patient.”