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Wednesday marked the two-year anniversary of the day the lives of Abby Roby and her 19-year-old son Tristan Roby changed forever.

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But even on the anniversary of the date her son was seriously hurt in a hit-and-run crash, Abby doesnt dwell on the past. Instead, after months of up and downs and several stays in hospital, shes looking forward to what she hopes will be the next step in her sons recovery a stem cell treatment.

Tristan is starting to get back, so now its just a hope that he stays healthy and keeps going and that the stem cells kind of help push things along, she said.

Tristan, a Sir Wilfrid Laurier secondary school student, was injured on July 21, 2019, when he and a friend were riding their bikes on Exeter Road near Wonderland Road and he was struck by a vehicle.

Tristan, then 17, suffered serious brain damage as a result of the collision, which kept him on a respirator for 44 days and in hospital for more than three months. Other injuries included a compound fracture to his left leg, two bruised lungs, damage to his jaw. The damage kept him in a coma for weeks.

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The driver of the car that hit him stopped momentarily and then took off.A witness followed the vehicle and detained a fleeing passenger.

Police found the vehicle in a nearby parking lot, but the driver had fled. Six months later, London police charged Jesse Aron Bleck, then 26, with failing to stop at the scene of an accident causing bodily harm and two counts of driving while prohibited. Pretrial in the case is slated to begin early next year.

As with many of his treatments, the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed Tristan receiving the stem cell treatment, which would be administered in Michigan.

Besides his own condition Tristan was recently diagnosed with post-traumatic Parkinsons disease and spent several days in hospital both Abby and Tristan were waiting to get their two shots of a COVID-19 vaccine.

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Now, their hopes are set on the U.S. easing some of its restrictions to make the trip easier. American officials announced on Wednesday they are extending its land border restrictions until Aug. 21.

Im hoping that if everything works out, well get in there in August, Abby said.

Money for the treatment was raised earlier this year thanks to the support of Brian Vollmer, vocalist and founding member of the rock band Helix. He organized a telethon-type event, raising $17,000.

Though Tristan remains bedridden, he still shows signs of the outgoing young man he was before his injuries, Abby said.

I brought up his guitar the other day, and Im like, Oh, remember this guitar? and he was strumming it, she said.

The long hospital stays between December and March, they really, like, put him back in his recovery, but hes standing again and hes sitting and hes much more alert.

jjuha@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/JuhaatLFPress

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Read the original here:
A mother's love: Two years after devastating crash, Abby Roby has hope - London Free Press (Blogs)