A “kind” and “hilarious” son who had just put down a deposit on a house with his partner is fighting for his life after suffering four strokes and a bleed on the brain.
Luke Savage, 23, from Maidstone, had suffered a headache all week when he sneezed in Costco on Saturday, August 30.
Luke Savage had been suffering from a headache all week. Picture: Carly Savage
The colour soon drained from his face as the pain in his head intensified, and not long after, he was sick and went home to try and “sleep it off”.
But this was just the start of his medical woes and Luke is now in King’s College Hospital in a critical condition.
It’s since been revealed the 23-year-old’s head pains were far more serious than initially thought. In fact, it was the by-product of blood clots in his brain, and the pressure was building in his head.
When Luke attended Maidstone Hospital the following morning, he was still walking and talking, but later the same day, he started to deteriorate, and the right side of his mouth started to drop.
“He started to cry and said he didn’t want to die,” mum Carly Savage told KentOnline.
Ellie Donlon with her partner Luke Savage, had just put down a deposit on their first home together. Picture: Carly Savage
Luke was rushed for a CT scan with a suspected bleed on the brain, while King’s College Hospital believed it was blood clots.
The family would later be told that it was both a bleed and blood clots, and that Luke may need a procedure to remove part of his skull, or a procedure that relieves the clots in the veins.
Although he was taken to the stroke assessment unit, Luke continued to deteriorate and was transferred to the intensive care unit before eventually being transferred to King’s College Hospital.
Last Tuesday (September 2), Luke, who had recently put down a house deposit with his partner Ellie Donlon, was taken for life-saving surgery to remove part of his skull to relieve the pressure in his head.
Mum-of-three Carly said: “We were told that the operation was to save his life at that point.
From left to right: Luke’s sisters Jessica and Jodie, his mum Carly and dad Jason, with Luke Savage. Picture: Carly Savage
“Now a week on, there have been scans. He has had a further three strokes.
“The first original bleed on the brain was rectified by the skull procedure, but he now has another bleed on the brain.
“His right side of his brain in severely damaged and is not reversible. On the left side of the brain there is a little bit of damage but there’s still some that is undamaged.”
On September 8, the family had another agonising wait as Luke went in for another surgery to remove some of the clots.
He remains in a critical but stable condition.
Carly added: “He’s 23 years old. I just want him to have the best life possible.
Pokémon lover Luke Savage is fighting for his life after undergoing surgery. Picture: Carly Savage
“I want him to have the best recovery and he’s going to need things due to the severe brain damage he’s already got, which is irreversible. We don’t know what that is going to look like.”
Carly says her son is the most “kind, caring, humorous” man who is usually “full of life” and loves his family and girlfriend.
To help Luke have the best recovery possible, a GoFundMe has been set up to help fund all the adaptations he may need as part of his rehabilitation journey. You can donate here.
All donations will go directly towards Luke’s recovery.
The doctors remain uncertain about how Luke will respond to the latest surgery, but Carly says she wants to be able to get whatever her son needs to make him more comfortable and support him.
She added: “Luke’s got that humour that’s infectious to everybody.
“It’s just heart-breaking, my heart is broken. We are a very close-knit family.
“The support I’ve had from my family, I wouldn’t be here now fighting for today if I didn’t have them around me.”