Liam ‘Doug’ O’Connell suffered a traumatic brain injury and remains in intensive care
A freak accident has landed an Irish man in intensive care in Los Angeles, and now his friends and family are attempting to raise funds for his medical care.
Liam ‘Doug’ O’Connell suffered a traumatic brain injury during a scooter accident while on holidays in California this month. O’Connell, a native of Cork who has been living in Vancouver for 8 years, now requires extensive medical care, and a GoFundMe has been launched to help alleviate the expenses.
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On the GoFundMe, friends wrote that O’Connell suffered the freak accident on October 5.
“He was rushed to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Centre,” said O’Connell’s friends, “in a critical condition by local emergency paramedics, where he was diagnosed with a fractured skull, subdural bleeding and traumatic swelling of the brain.”
“Doctors performed an emergency decompressive craniectomy procedure where a section of his skull was removed to relieve intracranial pressure.”
“The treatment forced Liam into a medically induced coma. Consequential battles with pneumonia and other direct complications have prevented the medical team from reducing the levels of sedation, and he is now expected to be induced for an extended period in the Intensive Care Unit in LA.”
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“Doctors still do not know the extent of the brain injury or the long-term implications.”
"He is currently being treated in the ICU unit in the USA and his rehabilitation will likely be in Canada. His family reside in Ireland and will absorb enormous costs during his road to recovery.”
Friends and family are hoping to raise €100,000 for O’Connell. They’re closing in on their goal as an impressive €82,261 has been raised in only five days.
You can donate to O’Connell’s medical care fund here.
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