‘I woke up from a coma... but didn’t know my own son’ (From York Press)

‘I woke up from a coma... but didn’t know my own son’

11:09am Monday 29th October 2007

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A SURVIVOR of a terrifying cherry-picker accident in York today recalled the horror - just weeks after doctors almost turned off his life support.

Chris Cook, 43, fell head-first on to the street when the vehicle he was working on was apparently hit by a lorry in Bootham.

Today, the father-of-three told how he astounded doctors with his remarkable recovery - but only after waking up in hospital unable to remember his month-old baby son.

Speaking publicly for the first time since the accident, Chris and his wife, Julie, relived the accident and the emotional recovery process, which saw him spend 12 weeks in hospital, including three in a coma.

Chris has lost the sight in his right eye and the hearing in his right ear, but is now back home recovering from his brain injuries. He said: "Seeing my family again was so beautiful and was so important for my recovery. Julie has been an absolute superstar. My wife has helped me through; she was great. My memory was gone, and I even have a son that I did not remember having.

"I had completely forgotten about Finlay, and it was awful when my wife talked to me about him and I had to say I did not know who she was talking about. But now we are bonding, father and son."

The accident occurred on the morning of August 2, while Chris and another man were doing some minor jobs on the outside of his house, following a major renovation project. But recalling it is, he says, "like a dream".

He said: "All I remember is a vague recollection. I remember getting into the cherry-picker, but it feels like it could have been a year ago.

"I remember coming up the house, but the next thing I remember is waking up in the ambulance coming back from Leeds."

That was some eight weeks later, after which time Julie and the couple's daughters Isobel, 12, and Maddie, ten, had been through agony. Doctors told Julie that he was not going to survive, and she had to relay the message to the children.

"My poor wife thought she was going to lose me on many occasions," said Chris.

"She was told I would not survive, and had to tell the children, and those poor bairns have been through purgatory and hell, and now I just want to get back to a normal family life with them."

He added: "I have a massive feeling of guilt, because of what Julie and the girls went through.

"I know it's not my fault and it was not supposed to happen, but I feel terrible because I left my lovely family for so long and they had to see me in that state."

Chris was visited in hospital by his brother, Steve, and mother Mavis, who flew home from Canada and Cyprus respectively, as well as his sisters, Diane and Julie, and Valerie, his wife Julie's mother, who moved into the family home to help, and her husband, Brian.

He has also been comforted by hundreds of get-well cards and messages of support from friends and family, which he keeps along with the original newspaper cuttings from the time.

Looking back at them is, he says, "frightening, intimidating and emotional".

"I think it was quite a major thing to happen in York, and it's just fortunate that nobody died."

After three weeks in a coma, Chris spent a further five in Leeds General Infirmary, followed by four more on the neurosurgery ward at York Hospital.

"Even the experts were confounded how quickly I have come out of it, but I was motivated to come back," said Chris. "I have just made a remarkable recovery. I do not know what it was, but I am a very driven person. I have been in business a long time, and that's my life."

As he continues the recovery, Chris is making up for lost time by getting to know his new son.

"It's lovely," he said. "It's just amazing, and I adore him."

Timeline On the day * Chris Cook and cherry-picker driver Karl Thackrah are touching up the front of Mr Cook's house in Bootham, following the removal of scaffolding erected during a major renovation. Then, disaster strikes * 10.56am: Yorkshire Ambulance Service begins receiving 999 calls reporting two men have been thrown from a cherry-picker in Bootham. Passers-by and residents rush to help * 11am: Within minutes, two ambulances have arrived and take both victims to York Hospital * 11.15am: Police close the A19 to traffic in both directions, between Water Lane and Gillygate * 11.30am: Health and Safety Executive (HSE) officials move in to investigate. * 4pm: After several hours, Bootham reopens to traffic In the aftermath * Chris spends three weeks in a coma at Leeds General Infirmary (LGI), followed a further two in intensive care, three more weeks in LGI and then four in York Hospital Meanwhile, North Yorkshire Police and the HSE launch a joint investigation, and insurance company Cunningham Lindsey use video footage shot by The Press on the day, to assist in the case * Oct 2: Chris Birch, manager of the cherry-picker company, reveals that Mr Thackrah, 37, is well on the road to recovery * Oct 19: Chris Cook returns from hospital to his home in Bootham, the scene of the accident, to be reunited with his wife and children again.

Wife had to tell girls their father would not recover

HEARTBROKEN wife Julie Cook had to tell her daughters that their dad would not recover, as her husband Chris lay ill in hospital.

She said: "Everything was perfect. One minute we were in our lovely new house with a brand new baby, and looking forward to the summer holidays.

"Then it just turned into a complete nightmare. I could not have survived it without my friends and family.

"We were told to prepare to turn off the life support machine. They thought the injuries were far more severe, and I was told to decide whether to turn it off, because he would not survive. I had to tell the kids that their dad was going to die."

Thankfully, a scan showed Chris's injuries were not quite as severe as first thought, sparing Julie that agonising decision.

Recalling the accident, Julie, 41, said: "I was with our daughters and Finlay, and had him in my arms. I just remember a massive crash and Maddie saw the cherry-picker swinging with nobody in it. We rushed down and saw Chris and the other man on the street."

In hospital, Julie found Chris could not remember their four-week-old son. She said: "When Chris woke up and I talked to him about Finlay, he said he did not know who I meant, and he could not remember me being pregnant."

Doctors had warned that may happen so Julie was prepared, but as Chris fought for his life in hospital, she relied on family and friends for support.

"It was a dreadful time but everyone was very supportive," said Julie. "I had just had a baby, but everyone was absolutely brilliant."

Once it emerged Chris might pull through, his friends rallied round superbly.

Julie said: "Everyone was saying that if anyone could get through this, Chris could. Even in the darkest days, they were saying that if anyone could fight on, he could. He's a real determined character."

While she knows Chris's full recovery could take months if not years, she is relieved to be able to look forward.

She said: "Now we can start getting on with our lives and enjoy being a family and enjoy Christmas in our new house."

Meanwhile, Julie and Chris are keen to thank all their family and friends who visited, wrote, sent cards or helped in any way possible; as well as work colleagues, teachers at Maddie and Isobel's schools, and staff at Leeds General Infirmary and Ward 32 at York Hospital; and staff at Headway, the brain injury advisory organisation.

Julie said: "All the nurses and staff were lovely."

Daughter terrified mum would get hurt

BRAVE Maddie Cook today relived the horrifying moment when her dad fell from the cherry-picker, and told how it left her terrified to let her mum go out alone.

The ten-year-old, who was in the family's living room when the accident happened, said: "I remember my dad was coming down, and then it happened and it was scary.

"I was inside at the window looking out.

"I stepped back a little bit and there was a massive crash and I saw the empty basket, and I just knew they had fallen out or something."

Maddie and sister, Isobel, 12, were supported by their teachers at Bootham Junior School and Bootham School as Chris recovered in hospital, and now he is back home, the family is finally re-united.

Maddie said: "It's really nice to have dad back - we did not expect it."

Maddie said her teachers had been very supportive, and told how the accident had left her emotionally distraught for weeks afterwards.

She said: "At a certain stage, I was worried about everything. I would not let my mum go out without phoning her constantly, and it was really hard because my mum had to keep going to Leeds in a car and I was worried if anything might happen to her it would be worse. I phoned her every five or ten minutes or I would cry when she went out.

"On top of my dad's accident, if she had had one it would have been very bad."

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