AFL legend Mark Bickley and wife Tory have opened up on the concussion ordeal that almost left their 12-year-old son in a coma.
Xavier suffered traumatic injuries in a freak bike accident near the family home in January.
He had fallen heavily and was badly concussed.
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“We got a phone call from him saying ‘help me, help me, help me’. He didn’t know what had happened,” Tory said.
Xavier was taken to hospital and remained there for days.
“At one stage there was talk that he may have had to be put in an induced coma, so all that was really distressing,” Mark said.
The next three months became hell for the Bickley family.
“It was terrifying,” Tory said.
“Watching him become more agitated, more scared, thinking people were trying to hurt him — I thought we’d lost the Xavier we knew.”
The Bickleys are sharing their story to help educate other parents and families on the hidden signs of head trauma.
Sensitivity to light and noise, confusion and difficult concentrating, and changes to mood and sleep are just some of the symptoms that could be missed in the pressures of day-to-day life.
Mark, a dual Adelaide premiership captain who once coached the Crows and returned this year as club engagement officer, had seen and experienced concussion during his lengthy football career.
But even he underestimated the impact it would have on his son.
“Maybe I was being a little bit laconic about how serious it was,” Mark said.
“Because I thought ‘well I’ve had them and they’re OK’. And generally all my experiences, I bounced back reasonably quickly.
“(Xavier) seemed to go the other way. He became more agitated and upset. We were just able to see that he wasn’t himself.”
Xavier missed the first two weeks of school during a challenging initial recovery period where he was forced to avoid screens and restrict concentrating on reading or other activities.
He has now bounced back, returning to what he loves — playing football.
Women’s and Children’s Hospital physiotherapist Georgina Leov urged parents not to pull their children inside and “wrap them in cotton wool”.
“I think the mental health and physical benefits far outweigh the risk,” she said.
“The important message is if it does happen, seek medical help.”