What began as an annual football holiday in Ibiza took a catastrophic turn for a British teenager who sustained a severe head injury, leaving him on a stroke ward for four months.
Daniel Hurst, then 19, had travelled to the popular destination last May with his Yateley United Football Club teammates.
However, the trip ended in disaster after Mr Hurst suffered such horrific head trauma that medics initially doubted his survival.
Following an evening out with club members, including his father Steve, Mr Hurst decided to walk the 300 yards back to his hotel. He subsequently disappeared, prompting teammates to launch a search.
Several hours later, his father was informed by police that a British boy had been hospitalised with critical head injuries and was not expected to make it through the night.
Mr Hurst was airlifted to Majorca for emergency surgery, which involved medics removing part of his skull to try to stop the swelling.
He was put in a medically induced coma.
After four weeks in hospital on the Spanish island he was stable enough to be airlifted to Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey where he spent four months on a stroke unit in a bed for patients who suffer traumatic brain injuries.
He was the youngest ever patient to be cared for on Frimley’s stroke ward.
When he arrived at the hospital he was unable to walk or talk but thanks to the care he received he is now planning to run the London Marathon to raise money for the hospital’s charity.
Mr Hurst, who works at a local golf club, is also back playing some football with his teammates.
He also wants to raise awareness that “recovery is possible” after such a traumatic injury.
“You have to keep moving forward,” he told the Press Association.
“I’ve got the same plans now I did before it happened – I’m trying to improve my golf, I’m running a lot, I go to the gym, things like that.
“It’s obviously been pushed back a little bit, but not a lot.
“I want to help motivate people (with brain injuries) to just keep going forward – your life is never over.
“I know it is hard. There were moments when I thought ‘is my life done?’… but you have got to keep going.”
Mr Hurst praised the hospital staff at Frimley Park Hospital, saying that they have kept him motivated.
On the marathon, he added: “Even if I just walk it, this year is not about beating my time last year, it is about getting over the finish line.”
In a message to holiday-goers, he said: “I would urge people to just be careful and always stick with at least one or two people, just always stay together.”
His father Steve, 53, added: “The message is just, ‘stick with someone, just be wary of surroundings’, like Dan said. This could happen anywhere.”
On the incident, he said: “We couldn’t find Dan, I rang his phone and police answered.
“They said someone who fits Dan’s description had been admitted to hospital.
“We were told there was a very high chance that he wouldn’t make it – they were quite blunt about the severity of his injuries.
“I had to ring his mum and tell her what happened, it was horrendous.
“Even after his surgery in Majorca we were told that it was an ‘hour-by-hour, day-by-day’ situation.”
Dr Tilly Speirs, consultant stroke physician at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, one of Mr Hurst’s medics, told the Press Association: “When he arrived we had to start right from the beginning and work out what his deficits were and what therapy he was going to need.
“He couldn’t walk when he came to us and it was a really scary time for his family because they didn’t know what was going to happen and whether he would recover.
“He had post-traumatic amnesia when he arrived… he couldn’t recall what happened the day before or the hour before.
“He survived the head injury but the family didn’t know what that survival was going to look like.
“As a team we didn’t know either but we knew he needed to have rehab and he’s done remarkably well.
“He had age on his side, he had just run a marathon so he was in good physical condition before this happened.
“Dan is a testament that with rehab that you can have a good outcome following a traumatic brain injury, it’s not going to be the same for everybody, it really depends on the individual, but he has done remarkably well and I think his future is going to be as bright as it was before he went on that trip.”
– The London Marathon is taking place on Sunday April 26 and Mr Hurst has set up a fundraising page at justgiving.com/page/danhurst20.
