Lucky to be alive: Garvoc teen fractures skull after knock to head

The 14-year-old was rushed to the Royal Children's Hospital a week ago where he underwent a craniotomy and had 55ml of blood drained from his brain.

On Saturday, August 26 he was in the family's backyard with a friend.

"I was on the trampoline and I copped an elbow to the side of the head," Sam said.

He went inside and told his dad Mark he was in pain and his ears were ringing.

"He was in a lot of pain," Mr Lillico said.

He told his son he would take him to South West Healthcare's Warrnambool Base Hospital.

However, Sam didn't want to go and after a short time, his pain seemed to have eased.

"The ringing had stopped and he had settled down, so we thought we'll monitor it," Mr Lillico said.

Two days later Sam said his headache had gone but the swelling on the side of his head remained.

"The swelling hadn't decreased," Mr Lillico said.

That was despite Sam having ice on it for long periods of time on Saturday and Sunday.

"I said 'he's probably fractured his jaw'," Mr Lillico said.

Mr Lillico and his fiance Tanya Wickenton asked their neighbour Elisha to keep an eye on their son while they headed to work.

Half an hour later, the couple were unable to get their son on the phone.

They contacted the neighbour, who went to check on him.

At the time he was fine but he later called his parents and said he had a severe headache and he felt nauseous.

Ms Wickenton called her mother to pick him up and take him to the hospital but in the meantime Sam walked out the front to get the attention of his neighbour.

"My head was pulsing really bad," Sam said.

"Then my legs got a bit funny and I couldn't walk properly."

Ms Wickenton said her neighbour got a chair for him to sit on while she got her car.

He was rushed to Warrnambool hospital.

"A graduate doctor saw us and he was really thorough," Ms Wickenton said.

"He said 'I'm going to recommend he gets a CT scan'."

Ms Wickenton said five minutes after Sam had the scan, she was advised he would be rushed to Melbourne.

"The doctor said 'we're sending you to Melbourne because he's got a fractured skull and a bleed on the brain'."

Sam was flown to Essendon Airport on the fixed-wing aircraft and taken to the Royal Children's Hospital.

Ms Wickenton accompanied Sam and said they arrived at the hospital about 11pm.

By 1am, he was in surgery.

Ms Wickenton and Mr Lillico were amazed with Sam's recovery after the surgery.

He woke up and said he felt so much better.

"I felt a bit relieved because the pulsing was gone - I only had a little headache," he said.

Mr Lillico urged people to ensure they were checked after suffering a knock to the head, even if they were not experiencing severe pain or other symptoms.

"He basically didn't have any symptoms for two days," Mr Lillico said.

Sam said he would also encourage people to head to the hospital straight away.

He won't return to Terang College until next term, Ms Wickenton said.

"He has to rest a lot so he won't be back at school until next term and because of his brain injury he will only go back part-time for a start," she said.

Ms Wickenton said the school had been incredibly supportive.

"He's not supposed to look at computer or gaming screens so they are going to send him some worksheets home," she said.

Sam said he was feeling well but disappointed he may not be able to play cricket for Allansford-Panmure's division three team when the season starts.

"He's not allowed to play any high-risk sports for two months," Ms Wickenton said.

He has a check-up with his neurosurgeon in six weeks.

The couple encouraged people to ensure they had Ambulance Victoria membership.

"The paramedics in Melbourne asked me if I had an Ambulance Victoria membership," Ms Wickenton said.

She was relieved to realise she did.

"They said it would have been about $20,000 and that's only for the flight from Warrnambool Airport to Essendon, that's not including the road ambulance from Warrnambool to the airport and then from Essendon to the Royal Children's," she said.

"I would urge everyone to get a membership - only $99 a year for a family."

The couple said they were extremely grateful to their neighbour for her help and all the medical staff.

"Everyone was amazing," Ms Wickenton said.

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