The heartbroken family of a teenager left brain-damaged after collapsing in a play park say they “won’t give up” on their little girl.
Rubie Boyton suffered a cardiac arrest at Bridgefield Park in Ashford just four days after celebrating her 16th birthday.
She stopped breathing and was only kept alive because of the valiant efforts of a friend who performed CPR before paramedics arrived.
But with her brain starved of oxygen for 31 minutes, the youngster sustained life-changing injuries and could remain in hospital for another year.
Her devastated mum, Kim Tucker, says the future remains unclear for Rubie, who before collapsing in May loved to street dance and aspired to work in hair and beauty.
“Rubie can’t do anything as she now has severe complex disabilities which mean she can’t move, sit up, talk or even eat and drink independently,” said the 41-year-old.
“It’s heartbreaking she can’t communicate with us either – the only thing she can do is open her eyes, look around very occasionally and then go back to sleep.
“Rubie has also developed epilepsy and dystonia, which is like all-over muscle cramps, from the brain injury, so she is on about 15 different medications having suffered a couple of cluster seizures too.
“So she is obviously very sleepy most of the time.
“We also don’t know if she recognises us as many parts of her brain, including her memory, have been damaged.
“Doctors also believe she is cortically blind, which means can only see shadows and colours.
“But I’m convinced she can actually see more than that because she looks straight into our eyes when she is awake.”
Rubie, who lives near Bethersden with her mum and stepdad Simon, suffered a cardiac arrest caused by sudden arrhythmia – when the heart stops beating because of an irregular rhythm.
After her friend’s life-saving resuscitation efforts, paramedics used a defibrillator in a bid to shock her heart into restarting.
Kim said: “That day was the first sunny day we had this year, so Rubie was determined she wanted to go out and spend it with friends.
“One of those friends was the one who then gave her CPR and helped keep her alive, for which I’m eternally grateful as he saved our Rubie.”
Rubie was airlifted to King’s College Hospital in London, where she was placed into an induced coma and put on a ventilator, but she is now able to breathe on her own.
She was initially in the paediatric intensive care unit and then a high dependent unit, before being moved to a brain and spinal ward, where she remains.
Her family have been told it is extremely unlikely her condition will improve in the short term.
“We’ve been told Rubie will stay in hospital for a year,” her mum said.
“The plan then is for her to go to a rehab centre for a number of months, where she can access therapies and sensory activities.
“But because of her condition we just don’t know what the future holds.”
Kim and Simon have both left their jobs at the Weald of Kent Golf Course and Hotel as they attempt to navigate the demands of home life and being with Rubie in London.
The pair live with Rubie’s brothers, Caylen, 23, and three-year-old Hunter, sisters, Abbi, 18, and River, two, and four-month-old nephew Luka.
Kim said: “Simon now spends every day at the hospital as we have a place there as part of the Ronald McDonald House Charity.
“I then look after the little ones and try to give them as much of a routine as possible while trying to visit Rubie as many times as I can during the week.”
Rubie’s gradual progression has left the family hopeful she has a future beyond round-the-clock care.
“I have hope for my little girl,” said Kim.
“I have to advocate for her to give her the best chances.
“If she’s unable to do things now, who’s to say with practice and perseverance she won’t be able to do things in the future? I won’t give up.
“She’s had an MRI and it showed nothing is structurally wrong with her heart, so it just shows what happened was so rare.“
A fundraiser has since been set up by Rubie’s auntie, Kelly Carter, to support the couple while they continue caring for Rubie and her siblings.
Emergency crews were called to Bridgefield Park in May
It comes as the family face the possibility of having to home-care Rubie through self-funded rehabilitation, depending on how her condition develops.
Kelly says the family have already been on a “very long and extremely emotional journey”.
“Our family will never be the same again [and] our hearts have been shattered,” she said.
“There have been moments of hope, but sadly many more moments with worry, sadness and grieving for the loss of Rubie as we all knew and loved her.
“Our love for her will never change, but we must now all get to know a very different Rubie.
“If we can try and help take some of the financial worries away from this loving family for a while during the most difficult time of their lives, it would mean so much.”