Boy recovering from induced coma due to seizures

A 10-year-old Mannville boy is due to go to a rehabilitation facility following a medically induced coma because of seizures he was suffering.Garrett Heward-Hyndman was moved to Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital after spending several weeks in Stollery Children’s Hospital.Heward-Hyndman’s mother Shannon Hyndman said doctors suspect Rasmussen’s disease, a rare neurological children’s disorder marked by seizures.

Although it will take about two months for an official diagnosis, Garrett is being treated for the disease now, to help it go into remission.Heward-Hyndman was in a coma for two weeks after falling ill at home. After he complained of flu-like symptoms, Hyndman took him to the doctor. The next day, “he’d been napping on the couch when he had a seizure,” she said.

That was the first of hundreds of seizures for Heward-Hyndman and, said Hyndman, “with each seizure, it’s like running a marathon.”After being brought out of the coma, Heward-Hyndman, who is on five anti-seizure medications, has had to relearn tasks such as walking and talking.“To see him start to do things is incredible,” Hyndman noted.

Alice Sheehan of the Mannville Hotel, who organized a recent benefit for Heward-Hyndman’s family, said the members of the community, and others in the area, rallied behind the family, including one person who donated $500 in gas coupons.“They have no problems giving here,” Sheehan commented, adding the money raised helped the family.“You can see the stress lifting from their faces.”Hyndman said the family has “come to discover” that giving spirit.“It’s been much appreciated.”