Mr. Paul Devlin:

I thank the Chairman and his committee for having me today. On 3 December 2012, my life changed dramatically. Only 12 years old, I was faced with the prospect of losing my brother. He and my Dad had been involved in a serious car accident. Conor was taken to the intensive care unit in Clonmel before being stabilised and sent to Cork University Hospital. He was on life support and nobody could say whether he was ever going to be okay again. That hurt me. He had injured his brain. I asked Mum for a promise not to tell me lies and just to be truthful, but nobody knew I was so scared. I needed to know the truth behind it all.

When Conor first woke up, all he did was cry and scream. I was the only one who could really calm him down. I watched movies with him and rubbed his head, but Conor never remembered me being with him. I went home with my aunt and uncle, as Mum and Dad felt I needed a break from the hospital. I went back to school, but I was so lonely. I felt angry that Dad did not come home with me even though I knew he was injured. I hated feeling so alone. I was living out of a bag and being tossed from house to house.

When Conor came home at Christmas, I was so delighted. It was the best Christmas present ever. However, at the same time it was like living with a stranger. He now seemed like the younger brother; he depended on me a lot. Conor was so scared and sad at times. I had no one to play with; Conor used to be so tired all of the time. Dad was different and Mam was too. Conor and Mam were always going for appointments and then to the NRH. I felt mixed up. I was glad Mam was looking after Conor, but I also felt sad that I was on my own. It took a long time for me to see the old Conor coming back. In fact, it was only about a year ago.

I wish there had been someone to talk to about this, perhaps another child whose brother or sister had gone through the same kind of experience. Since the accident, Conor has made me so proud by the way he has fought very hard to get back to full fitness and his old sport. I have had to grow up a lot. I realise that we are very lucky that Conor is so good. I just wish Mammy had not had to fight so hard to get Conor the help he needed. I know Mam felt guilty about me and tried as much as possible to give me her time. If these services had been in place, Mam would not have had to be so stressed and I would not have felt so alone. I want there to be someone or somewhere for other children like me to be able to talk about how they are feeling after someone in their family suffers an ABI. It was a very scary, lonely time for me.