When Tim Caldwell’s daughter first yelled out from another room that she couldn’t feel her legs, he thought she was joking.
The 13-year-old was “a bit of a practical joker” after all.
But when she started screaming, Tim knew something sinister had happened to his little girl.
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Harriet Caldwell was doing lower-back stretches before basketball training on May 4 when she felt a bit of a pop in her back.
The family didn’t know it at the time, but the teen had suffered a spinal cord infarction — otherwise known as a spinal stroke.
“(Harriet) just couldn’t get up off the ground,” Tim told 7NEWS.com.au
“It was like, what’s happened? Because she was completely paralysed from the waist down, there was just nothing.”
Harriet was taken to Bendigo Hospital and checked over before eventually being sent by ambulance to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.
Tim said, at that point, the severity of the situation had not yet dawned on him or his wife, Rhi.
“As far as we were concerned, we were going to be pretty right (in) the next day or two,” he said.
“So, I guess we knew something was up but we didn’t comprehend quite how serious it was at that stage.”
After a week of intense testing, it was confirmed that Harriet had suffered a stroke within her spinal cord — something that is extremely rare, especially for a child.
Some doctors told Harriet’s parents they only knew of about three cases of a spinal cord stroke in the past 20 years.
Others said they had never seen it before in a child, and had only read about it happening overseas.
Spinal cord infarction usually occurs when the spinal cord or the arteries that supply blood to it are either damaged, thicken or close, according to the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
While it is still unclear exactly what caused Harriet to have a spinal stroke, doctors said in the circumstances it could have happened at any time.
“Whether it was the stretching or whether she could have gone for a walk or done something else, it was going to happen,” Tim said.
“This is just a very, very freakish occurrence and for this to happen is extremely rare.”
At the age of just 13, Harriet was told she may never walk again.
“That’s something I’m not ever going to forget, when … you know, your little girl looks up at you and says ‘Dad, do something’ and just crying and trying to process it … it just rips your heart out,” Tim said.
“You could see the absolute terror in her eyes.”
Since working with the physio team at the hospital, Harriet and her family have been able to see a glimmer of hope.
The strength in her right leg is starting to build, and in her left she can wiggle one of her toes and sometimes her ankle.
While Tim is aware it’s only the start of what is sure to be a long journey, these little positive signs have given the family the push they needed.
“What was doom and gloom and pretty much the worst week or so of our family’s life, where, in a sense, it felt like life was pretty much over, we’ve now got some positivity,” he said.
“We’re really positive and, I suppose for all of us, in a much better place mentally. We’ve got something to work with.”
Tim and Rhi have had to put aside running their mobile coffee business as they now spend most of their time in Melbourne.
Their younger daughter, Darcy, 11, is trying to balance going to school in Bendigo while also supporting her sister.
It’s unclear when Harriet will be able to go home, but what is certain is that many changes will need to be made to help her adapt to her new life.
To help cover these costs, a fundraiser has been set up for Harriet and her family by friend Kelly Haw.
Tim wasn’t so hot on the idea at first.
“I can’t, I can’t do that. It’s not me,” he recalled saying. “I don’t want anybody’s help. I just can’t do it. No, thank you.”
“(But) after about another week, it was like, we ain’t leaving here in a hurry. This is pretty much going to be a full-time job for quite a while.”
More than $50,000 has been raised since the GoFundMe was created two weeks ago.
“I just can’t believe it. Yeah, it’s incredible,” Tim said.
Five weeks on from that life-altering day in May, Harriet is determined to walk again.
She’s in relatively good spirits but, as expected, has moments of frustration and anger.
“Just every now and then, like last night we had a ‘Why me? Why does this happen to me? It’s not fair. I haven’t done anything wrong’ moment,” Tim said.
“She knows a lot of the time she asks questions, and she knows we can’t give her the answers … it’s a balancing act.”
Despite the daily challenges, Harriet’s sense of humour is something Tim continues to admire.
“Just the other day she just wheeled herself across the room and grabs her leg that’s not working and lift it up and kicks me and says ‘Take that you big fairy’,” he said.
“She’s a marvellous kid, she really is.”
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