Will's pathway story

Rehabilitation at Priory Highbank Centre

During his stay on Upper Walmersley unit, he received active treatment from professionals such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists. Each discipline worked closely with each other to optimise Will’s recovery and functioning.

Whilst he initially presented with no sitting balance and poor head control, he soon increased his postural control and was able to take part in activities, due to the support of our programmes utilising tilt tables, standing aids and perched sitting. This allowed Will’s true nature to shine through and he began to enjoy playing games and interacting with the world around him.

It was also identified that the use of thermoplastic splints and lycra sleeves would benefit Will. Splints were crafted specifically for him on-site and helped him to maintain the range of movement in his hands. In turn, this reduced some of the global muscle patterns that were interrupting his upper limb control and thus his postural control.

Eventually, we were able to reduce the amount of time Will needed to be in a fully moulded wheelchair, which gave him a level of independence some wouldn’t have thought possible. Different communication aids were also offered to Will, including the Eyegaze, which also allowed him to access and control a variety of different connected devices including his TV, which had the capability of actively picking up on when and what he was watching.

Moving on to The Elton Unit

After 5 years, Will was ready to be discharged to the Elton Unit, a nearby Priory residential service. It was evident that Will had become tired of rehabilitation and needed the opportunity to explore a more social environment that allowed him to flourish, develop new skills, and access new opportunities.

During the transition, Will’s family were shown around the service by the ward manager, and all the support they needed was provided to them. It was a difficult time, as they had built trust and bonds with the team at Priory Highbank Centre, but the whole team at The Elton Unit were dedicated to reassuring them and explaining how care here would work. This involved regular meetings with Will and his family.

Will climbed his own mountains

Will achieved some amazing things in his time at Priory.

• He learnt to put his own cap on again
• He got to hear his own voice again with the support of speech and language therapy
• He was able to sample new flavours again through the use of BioZoom technology. The joy that this brought him was significant and you could see the happiness and sensations with each gulp
• He was able to communicate how he wanted his room to look and completely personalised it to his taste, including favourite band posters
• He began to mouth the words to some songs
• His smile became even more radiant and you knew the moment he entered the room that there were going to be some good times ahead
• He was able to take part in ‘virtual visits’ with his family, during the pandemic which surprisingly gave Will a feeling of greater independence, rather than restriction
• He joined in with physical games like badminton and was able to follow the movement of floating balloons with his eyes
• He could go in to the community and attend events that would have previously been impossible for him

Will’s time at Highbank was a very happy one and his parents are so grateful for the added time they had with their son. Due to recurrent chest infections, Will unfortunately passed away but the team were able to support both him and his family during this awful time, making sure Will was kept as comfortable as possible throughout.

We will forever be grateful for the time we had getting to know Will, and his beautiful smile and positive attitude will forever be remembered at Priory.