The Neurosurgeon attended to three residents of Coronation Street who had suffered neurological traumas of differing natures.
The first was Ken Barlow who in October 2016 had a serious stroke. It occurred as he was having one of his frequent rows with his son Peter about his desultory life. He was rushed to Weatherfield General where the neurosurgeon told Peter and Tracy that the stroke had affected his speech and the movement on his right side which they hoped would improve with rehabilitation, though there was chance he could be disabled for life. On their own, Peter confessed to the doctor that he felt guilty that he may have been the cause of his father’s collapse, but she assured him that a number of factors may have been behind it and it wasn't necessarily their argument. She made the mistake though of giving the same reassurance later in front of Tracy, causing yet another fall out in the family when she blamed him for their father’s condition.
Ken had difficulty speaking when he awoke and had to listen as Tracy informed him that she had banned Peter from his bedside. She kept her own vigil where the doctor informed her that she just had to be patient about her father's slow recovery and the support of his family was crucial in expediting that. Peter was eventually allowed back in but found his father’s inability to understand him or reply frustrating. The doctor informed Peter that he had aphasia which caused him problems with all forms of communication with words, but that therapy would help with the condition. Ken grew so frustrated with himself that he reached the stage of banning any visitors from his bedside. The one notable exception was his son, Daniel Osbourne, who made a welcome return into his life and was allowed to stay with him as he spent hours reading books which his father found therapeutic and aided his gradual recovery to the point where he accepted the rest of his family back. The neurosurgeon was able to tell the assembled clan that Ken’s progress meant he could go home the next day and the discharge team would handle the ongoing support that he required. Ken made a full recovery in time.
On Christmas Day 2019, Shona Platt was shot during a rampage by a deranged Derek Milligan. Soon after an emergency operation, she suffered a cardiac arrest which deprived her brain of oxygen. Whilst awaiting the results of a CT scan, the neurosurgeon carried out some reflex tests to gauge her level of consciousness. When the CT scan results came back, they showed that no stroke had occurred but there was little to no activity in the brain and husband David was advised that he should hope for the best. but prepare for the worst. He and the rest of the family kept vigil over Shona's unconscious form over the next week. After that time, another scan was conducted which showed no discernible deterioration and therefore the doctor was hopeful that it meant that Shona had stabilised and they were going to remove her breathing tube and see if she could ventilate on her own. The manoeuvre was a success and even the neurosurgeon said it was an occurrence she had rarely seen in her twenty years in the job, but counselled caution that any recovery was still questionable and would take a long time.
David played his wife tapes of background chatter from her old workplace at Roy's Rolls to provide her with familiar sounds to react to and then augmented them by having stepchildren Max and Lily record messages for her. The latter were a success and Shona opened her eyes to the sound of Lily’s voice. The neurosurgeon again counselled David not to get his hopes up, but later in the day she was able to confirm that all the signs showed that his wife was slowly emerging from her coma as she was showing an awareness of her environment. However, she showed no signs of recognising David himself and the neurosurgeon warned him that there would be periods of disorientation during any recovery from a coma. As she began to struggle with words, Shona’s first were to tell David that she didn’t know him. The neurosurgeon had to placate him, telling him that a therapist would be assessing her that morning, but she was unable to confirm whether or not Shona even knew who she herself was. After the therapist’s session, the neurosurgeon reported to the Platts that although her motor skills were normal, she had serious memory issues and she recommended moving her to a neurological rehabilitation centre for long-term treatment. Dismissing her advice, David remained fixated on finding a way to trigger his wife’s memories, but he went too far and became aggressive when trying to get her to recognise pictures from their wedding album, causing Shona to gasp out to the neurosurgeon that she didn't want him near her and him being ejected from her room.
When things had calmed down, the neurosurgeon was present when Shona was transferred to the Leeds centre and David thanked her for all the work she had done for his wife. Over many months Shona recovered, although there were significant personality changes that David himself had to get used to in time.
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List of appearances[]
2016
2019
2020
- Fri 3rd Jan (1)
- Fri 3rd Jan (2)
- Mon 6th Jan (1&2)
- Wed 15th Jan (1)
- Wed 15th Jan (2)
- Fri 17th Jan (1)
- Fri 17th Jan (2)
- Mon 20th Jan (2)
2023