My once vibrant wife, 40, tried to sleep off a headache but woke up with ‘life-ruining’ condition striking young people

A DAD has spoken of his heartache watching his “vibrant and feisty” wife unable to speak or walk – only sleep all day – after a seemingly minor accident. Scott Midmer, 46, has been left completely in the dark about when his partner of six years, Melody Barclay, 40, might get better. Scott Midmer has no idea if or when his partner Melody Barclay may recover Credit: Supplied Three months after the incident Melody, a mum-of-two is a shadow of her former self Credit: Supplied Scott, from Northampton, told Sun Health: “I can’t believe my once vibrant and feisty partner has become someone that is virtually confined to her bed on prescription painkillers – just from a bang on the head. “She seemed fine immediately afterwards, it’s so hard to understand.” Sign up for the Health newsletter Thank you! The family’s ordeal began with a BBQ earlier this year on May 16. Melody reached to grab their daughter’s bag from under the table but as she stood up, her head slammed onto the underside of the table, made of heavy railway sleepers. It made such a clonk that all of the guests at the BBQ stopped chatting and braced themselves for after effects. Although it hurt a lot at the time, Melody brushed it off – it happened five minutes after they arrived and they stayed on for another few hours, watching their daughter Lilith, three, play with the other children and catching up with their friends. It was only on the drive home that Melody, a mum-of-two, admitted to Scott that she had a splitting headache. Once back at home, she took some painkillers and decided to sleep it off. Most read in Health But now, three months later she’s a shadow of her former self and has been diagnosed with post concussion syndrome (PCS). The mum-of-two spends up to 30 hours asleep at a time, suffers from confusion and nausea. She’s also lost over a stone as her muscles waste away due to the time she spends in bed. Devastatingly, she can’t look after her beloved daughters – even cuddling Lilith for 30 minutes or talking exhausts her. Melody also can’t be left alone and Scott has had to stop working as an HGV driver to look after her and Lilith. Going back to work as a self-employed tattooist is a distant dream. Scott says: “Sometimes I feel as though I’ve got two children – I even cut up Melody’s food for and just give her the fork to save what precious energy she has. The mum-of-two now spends up to 30 hours asleep at a time, suffers from confusion and nausea. Credit: Supplied Devastatingly, Melody can’t look after her beloved daughters – even cuddling Lilith for 30 minutes or talking exhausts her Credit: Supplied “I have to support her while she walks and help bathe her. “She needs a wheelchair on the rare occasions that we go out.” After Melody went to bed to sleep off her headache, Scott went to work as usual at 2am, thinking that all Melody needed was to sleep off the pain. However, when he got back home later that afternoon, he was horrified to find Melody in a state of confusion in their living room, crying while cuddling Lilith. He immediately called 111 and the responder called out an ambulance. They went to hospital leaving Lilith with Melody’s 16-year-old daughter, from a previous partner, Tye. Tests including an x-ray and a CT scan didn’t reveal anything untoward, such as a brain bleed, and doctors said it was concussion and she’d need to take it very easy for a week and then gradually resume normal activities. But her expected recovery has never happened. Alongside the weakness and confusion she’s highly sensitive to light and sounds and she’s in constant pain. Scott says: “Melody’s usually full of energy. We had a normal family life, juggling children and work, and squeezing in a few date nights for some couple time. It was hectic but happy. “She loved being busy and adored looking after her two daughters. “She’s tried to push herself a couple of times. She even attempted to go to work early on, she loves her job, but there was no way she could do it. Alongside the weakness and confusion Melody is highly sensitive to light and sounds and she’s in constant pain Credit: Supplied What is post concussion syndrome? Post-concussion syndrome (PCS) describes a set of symptoms that sometimes happen after a concussion. They can last for several weeks or months. The exact cause of PCS is not known. One theory is that PCS is the result of a chemical imbalance in the brain. This imbalance is triggered by the injury that caused the initial concussion. Another theory suggests PCS may be caused by damage to nerve cells in the brain. The symptoms of PCS can be physical, psychological or cognitive (affecting your ability to think). You may have more than one type of symptom at a time, but are unlikely to have them all. Symptoms include: Persistent headaches that last a long time Dizziness Nausea Sensitivity to bright lights Sensitivity to loud noises Tinnitus Double or blurred vision Fatigue Changed or reduced sense of smell and taste There’s no specific treatment that cures PCS. But there are a lot of strategies that can help. For most patients the symptoms gradually improve over time. Source: NHS Inform “A few weeks ago, we went on an outing to a local park and to have an ice cream to give Lilith – a much-needed sense of normality, albeit it with Melody in a wheelchair. “It was after that that she had her longest sleep yet, 30 hours. “Now we realise that pushing herself only makes it worse. “But I’m so worried about her weight loss and muscle wastage – I fortify her drinks with extra milk powder and help her do leg exercises in bed. “We exist in a sort of twilight zone. Whenever she’s awake and not too exhausted to communicate, I like to make the most of it. “But the other night it was at 2.30am, and then I had to be up again at 6.30 to get Lilith up and ready for nursery.” The couple are frustrated by the lack of available information on the syndrome. Scott says: “We’ve had to fight for help, we’ve been back and forward to the hospital and doctors, but they’ve just told us that it’s temporary and will go. “But we have no idea when, and they don’t know either.” Consultant neurologist Dr Steven Allder, from Re:Cognition Health and an expert in PCS, says: “PCS is underdiagnosed and recognised, and many GPs don’t have up-to-date information on it. “But around 100,000 people a year are affected by it and it’s woefully under-researched. “Unfortunately, it ruins lives. The couple are frustrated by the lack of available information on the syndrome Credit: Supplied “I’ve been working in neurology for 30 years, and I started off working with strokes. “From 2012, I’ve been seeing people with PCS and the impact of the symptoms are worse – particularly as it’s more likely to be younger people suffering. “It’s caused by your brain moving from side to side in your skull during a head injury, and twisting in the middle, which causes the pathways that link together the brain to be bruised. “For some people, the bruising subsides with no further issues. “For others, it causes injury at a microscopic level that can’t be seen on a normal CT or MRI scan.” Scott says Melody is on a waiting list for the John Radcliffe Hospital for a special neurological appointment after a GP referral. “But it could take weeks to come through,” he says. Meanwhile, as well as the stress of his partner being so ill, Scott is panicking about money. Neither of them is working, and although Scott’s employees are keeping his job open for him, he’s not being paid. He’s started a GoFundMe page as they are so desperate for financial help, raising more than £4,700 to date. “We were lucky, we had a good joint income,” says Scott. “But we’d recently built Melody a new studio and ploughed everything into that, so we had no savings, and now we have no income. “I’m using foodbanks just to keep us all fed, and I’m speaking to a debt management company. I’m terrified we’ll lose our house. “But I could cope with anything if I knew I could have my Melody back….but at the moment we don’t know when or if that will happen.” Comment now