A Celtic-daft Scots dad who was left fighting for his life after an unprovoked street attack three years ago is still unable to talk after suffering a major brain injury. Kevin Hammond’s family are fundraising for a stem cell therapy treatment in Switzerland which doctors believe may help improve the 54-year-old’s quality of life.
The ‘happy-go-lucky’ engineer was left at death’s door after being set upon by a stranger outside The Braes pub in Rutherglen on December 8, 2019. The father-of-two, from Castlemilk, was forced to have part of his skull removed to relieve the pressure on his brain while his family were asked if they wanted his last rites read at his bedside as medics feared he wouldn't survive.
He was placed into a coma and spent several weeks in intensive care before being moved to a high dependency unit at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. Kevin, who has supported the Hoops his entire life, went on to spend almost 12 months at the specialist Graham Anderson House in Springburn where he underwent intensive speech and physiotherapy.
But the devastating brain injury continues to have a lasting effect on the married dad who requires 24/7 care and can only communicate with his loved ones by using his mobile phone. Daughter Ashley, 29, told how her dad has had to relearn everything from scratch - including how to walk and make a cup of tea - but hopes that the £26k treatment will help get him back to watching his beloved team at Celtic Park.
She said: “We’re just trying to get his life as back to normal as possible. It’s three years down the line and he’s stuck in the house. He still can’t talk so he needs 24/7 care and we communicate through his phone. Before all this, his family, his friends and his work were his life.
“He enjoyed coming home on a Friday night after finishing his shift before heading away out for a pint with his pals. His life has just completely turned upside down now. He was left fighting for his life in a coma and we didn’t know if he would ever wake up.
“He was one of the patients who was in intensive care for the longest and then he got moved down to the high dependency unit and eventually onto the ward. During all that, he had to go through several major operations on his brain.
“He had to get part of his skull removed because he was getting continuous blood clots and swelling of the brain. They put the skull into his stomach so his body wouldn’t reject it when they put it back. They then had to bring that surgery forward because he wasn’t coping. He went all off balance.
“At one point, we thought he’d taken a stroke because he was all lop-sided and he started to not walk. He kept falling and ended up paralysed down his right side. He still to this day has problems with that, like his hand and general weakness down one side of his body. This is his way of life now.”
She added: “He’s really missing his work. He was a slush puppy engineer and he’d been doing it since he was 16-years-old. He was a very handy man with DIY and building stuff but now, even trying to hammer a nail, he’s finding that difficult with his hand.
“He remembers a lot from the past, all about his work and his favourite places for holidays and things like that. But it can be very, very difficult and takes us a long time to try to understand what he’s trying to tell us.
“It’s not like he can’t speak at all but it’s like his brains all scrambled. So he tries to copy you when you’re talking. He’s very aware that something has happened and he knows his life isn’t what it used to be but he’s just not fully aware of the extent of what’s happened to him. He doesn’t remember the attack at all.
“We’ve tried all these communications books and apps on his phone for his speech. We’ve tried laptops, iPads but he’s a 54-year-old man and a lot of the resources are for children.
“He’s been learning how to write his name, learning his address, days of the week, counting, money, just everything from scratch really. We came across this stem cell therapy when we were searching for things that could help make life easier for him.
“We’ve had consultations with the team, sent them videos of my dad and sent all his medical history, which came in books. They can’t guarantee that it’ll work but have said that it might make a difference because it’s been three years so it’s still relatively early on.
“They’ve said that if it had happened five years ago then they would have said no.”
Studies have shown that injecting stem cells can help repair damaged brain tissue and improve neurological function - including speech - but the treatment isn’t available on the NHS.
Ryan Wilson, from Cambuslang, was previously jailed for four-and-a-half years after he admitted assaulting Kevin to his severe injury, permanent impairment and to the danger of his life.
To donate to the fundraiser for Kevin, please click here.
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