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James is our walking miracle

Wednesday, 11 January 2012

This is a sight the Annett family thought they would never see. James Annett takes tentative steps, supported by his mum Anne and sister Sarah, at the family’s home.

BACK on his feet again. Just over five months from a horrific car crash outside Rathfriland, 20-year-old James Annett is making remarkable progress after suffering serious head injuries.
The injuries were so severe it was touch and go as to whether James would even make it to hospital, never mind be back on his feet, with the aid of two physios, just two months later.
And now his family has spoken to The Outlook in this moving story of courage, survival and how the prayers of the community helped them through their darkest days.
It was on Tuesday, 26 July, that life was turned upside down for the Annett family. They had spent the previous week on holiday in Portstewart, with mum Anne and twin sisters Kathryn and Kerrie staying up for a few more days and dad Murray having returned home to work.
Murray had driven back up to bring his wife and daughters home and, while making the journey back to Rathfriland, he received a phone call saying James had been in an accident.
They got down to Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry in time to see him being transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, following the ambulance there.
When they got there they discovered James had suffered serious head injuries and was put on life support, where he would remain for a further three weeks.
But just as progress seemed to be being made, James' lung collapsed, in an evening his dad says "was the time I feared most for whether James would come through it or not".
There were complications after the surgery but, by Tuesday, 18 October, James was considered well enough to go to Musgrave to continue his recovery, finally being discharged on Thursday, 24 November.
The crash and James' struggles united the community, with daily prayer meetings being held for James for weeks after the accident as an amazing show of support was demonstrated for James and his family.
And they have publicly thanked all those who supported them throughout the last five and a half months as James continues his miraculous recovery from the injuries which so nearly claimed his life.
n For an extensive and moving interview with James and his family, see pages six and seven.

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