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CAMERON MILTON:
Those who know Cameron Milton will agree that his attitude to life is enviable (the first time I met this wonderful young man I was bowled over by his constant merriment and sense of fun - in fact I have often remarked that if we could bottle Cam's joie de vivre and sell it we would be millionaires! Ed).
Cameron's story is a little different to many other Headway casualties in that his head injury was not caused by a car accident but by an accident in the army. As Cam tells it, he was just 18 years old with one month to go to "uitklaar parade" and looking forward to Christmas with his family when tragedy struck.
Ordered to work on a truck with another young army recruit, the two of them were trying to change the wheel when something exploded under high pressure, hit Cam's friend, Grant Mann, first and broke his neck. Cam, who was crouching down, was lifted off his feet and thrown 6 feet backwards. His injuries were extensive and the surgeons at Voortrekkerhoogte-One Military Hospital had to perform a 13 hour operation to try and repair the damage. The optic nerve in one eye had been severed, his skull was shattered, 5 teeth had been knocked out and his jaw was broken in 3 places. He was in a coma for almost six months and spent an entire year in hospital.
Once Cameron had recovered sufficiently he was brought back down to Durban and admitted to Hillcrest Hospital, his memories of which are not at all happy. The main problem was that there were no other young people there and he had to endure the situation for a year until an operation at Entabeni Hospital, to release the tendon contractures in his legs, gave him a chance to make a move.
A sympathetic social worker at the hospital investigated alternative accommodation for Cameron and he was happily relocated to Northbay Lodge where he has been for the past 9 years.
Life has been good to Cameron since then and he has been a daily attendee at Headway for some years. The therapists at Headway were instrumental in enrolling Cameron in a Reflexology course, he has enjoyed giving motivational talks to schools and two years ago he became engaged to Steph. He is grateful for his excellent memory, is always ready with a wisecrack or joke, and sees life as a constant challenge. You will not be surprised to hear that Cam is a Monty Python fan and his favourite song (and motto?) is "Always look on the bright side of life" from the movie "Life of Brian".
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