It seems an article in The Daily Mail has everyone concerned. I’m being asked what I think. Here goes.

I hope we’ve all been VERY worried since the first reports of Michael’s accident. That surely is the appropriate attitude.

The guys quoted in the online article I saw have taken care of patients like Michael. They have not, however, examined Michael, reviewed his scans, etc. Because their titles imply that these men are consummate professionals, I’ve no doubt that they made clear (much clearer than the Mail does) that they were speculating as to possible outcomes.

Because that is what they are doing.

Look, I think that we need to look at this speculation rather like the arrival time estimates of your satnav. Their initial estimate is based on some assumptions and statistics. Obviously, as you get closer and closer to the destination the estimate gets better and better. Duh.

It is highly unlikely that when Michael and his family are finished with hospitals, finished with rehab centres, he will be the same Michael we had known until that Sunday.

Having said that, which is admittedly saying very little that isn’t, unfortunately, painfully obvious, the range of impairment we may see spans the spectrum from mild sensory/motor/behavioral problems to more dramatic sequelae.

Once again, patience, long painstaking work by all concerned, and just maybe our thoughts, best wishes and prayers will be needed. Long periods with no news are perfectly normal, and will remain so. We will likely enter a chronic phase, punctuated by (hopefully) several steps forward and (hopefully) many fewer backward.