Aeneas Wilder was cycling through Holyrood Park when he was thrown from his bike and landed on his head – and while he believes his helmet saved his life, he’s been left in a wheelchair and unable to feed or bathe himself.
Aeneas with his family(Image: Supplied)
An Edinburgh dad who was involved in a horrific cycling smash has been left ‘unable to feed himself’. Aeneas Wilder, 58, was on his bike heading through Queen’s Drive in May this year before a crash involving a pedestrian.
The dad-of-two, who works as a visual artist, flew off the bike and landed on his head. While he believesl the helmet he was wearing saved his life, Aeneas suffered a severe spinal injury – paralysing him and leaving him in a wheelchair which he steers with his chin.
He needs a hoist to move from his bed, carers to dress and bathe him, and is unable to live at home or work. Despite his ordeal, Aeneas has remained ‘determined and hopeful’ and is supported by his wife, Naoko Obara, and their children Moira, 17, and Roy, 13, who live in Prestonfield.
His doctors believe with specialist therapy, real improvements are possible. The intense and frequent treatment, however, is unavailable through the NHS and must be privately-funded.
Aeneas gets physical therapy for an hour each day, costing £100 a session. While it’s not definite, there is potential the sessions will help him gain movement back – though he, and his family, are struggling under the costs.
Gains as small as the use of one hand would be life-changing, enabling Aeneas to work again with digital tools. If he can walk with a frame or stick, he may return home to live with his family.
After the incident, Aeneas was rushed to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. He was then transferred to the Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injuries unit in Glasgow, before returning to the Infirmary.
The first 18 months after an injury like Aeneas’ are critical, and have seen him moved to Drummond Grange Care Home in Lasswade. It provides support to younger adults with physical disabilities who have a range of underlying conditions such as multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease, spinal or brain injuries.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, Aeneas told us: “I was cycling along Queen’s Drive on my way to a friend’s exhibition. I was just getting to the bottom of the road, and this woman just stepped out in front of my bike. As a cyclist, you’re always aware of pedestrians or other cars.
“You have to keep your eyes on the road, you’re alert. This woman had her back into oncoming traffic, and just very suddenly stepped into the road.
“If she had stepped out a second earlier I would’ve had time to slam my brakes on, and if she’d done it a second later I would’ve passed her. I went over the handlebars and landed on my head.”
Aeneas suffered a C2 to C6 spinal injury, and has been paralysed since. Doctors told him his spinal cord is bruised, and signals have been ‘slowly and surely’ returning to his body.
He added: “It’s a bit of an odd situation. When you break your spinal cord, it can either be severed or crushed or bruised – and it turns out mine is bruised.
“I was told when I was in the spinal unit in Glasgow that if its bruised, it takes a long time, but things do start to come back. Physical therapy might be able to develop movement, but it is a might.
“When I was tested in the Royal Infirmary, I had no feeling in any part of my body below the shoulders. Slowly but surely I start to get movement back in places.
“I’m in a wheelchair, operating it with my chin. I can’t walk, I can’t move around, I can’t do anything like that – but more and more signals are coming back.”
While nobody has confirmed with Aeneas that he will walk again, he’s remaining hopeful. He told us: “Nobody is telling me I will walk again, they can’t say that because they don’t want to give me false hope – but it is a possibility. We decided to launch the GoFundMe because of the physical therapy.
“My physiotherapist has worked on many spinal injury cases and has seen in me that I have potential to walk again. He does private sessions with me, which are £100 for an hour and we do that every day.
“It’s £700 a week. He stays after work and comes in on weekends for the sessions, because he knows there is something there.”
Family friend Cinzia Mutigli, who launched the GoFundMe campaign, told us: “All the family live in Edinburgh, so it was a really long journey to Glasgow and back when he was there.
“It’s been really tough. It was great for them when Aeneas was transferred to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, they were only 15 minutes away from him. Now he’s in Lasswade and it’s 40 minutes each way.
“It’s tricky. We’re all trying to help as much as we can with easing the strain. They’ve got so much on their plate. so we wanted them to have one less thing to stress about. We just wanted to do something to feel useful.”
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The NHS says on spinal cord injuries: “A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord that causes temporary or permanent changes in its function. Symptoms may include loss of muscle function, sensation, or autonomic function in the parts of the body served by the spinal cord below the level of the injury.
“Injury can occur at any level of the spinal cord and can be complete injury, with a total loss of sensation and muscle function, or incomplete, meaning some nervous signals are able to travel past the injured area of the cord. Depending on the location and severity of damage, the symptoms vary, from numbness to paralysis to incontinence.
“Long term outcomes also range widely, from full recovery to permanent tetraplegia (also called quadriplegia) or paraplegia.”
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We received a call at 6.58pm on May 16 to attend an incident on Queen’s Drive, Edinburgh. Two ambulances were dispatched to the scene, and one patient was transported to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.”
A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson added: “We were alerted at 6.56pm on May 16 to a collision involving pedestrians and a cyclist on Queens Drive in Edinburgh.
“Crews returning from another incident came across the collision and contacted Operations Control to request support from the Scottish Ambulance Service. Crews provided first aid to one casualty before passing both casualties into the care of the Scottish Ambulance Service. Crews left the scene at 7.28pm.”
You can donate to help Aeneas, Naoki, Moira and Roy here.