A gifted teenager left with devastating disabilities after a school rugby game has defied expectations to get top grades in his maths GCSE a year earlier than his classmates.
15-year-old Sion Kerby has barely been able to attend school since the freak tackle in October 2019 which left him with a condition called functioning neurological disorder (FND). It took repeated trips to hospital and specialists to be diagnosed with FND, which affects the way the nervous system works, after what doctors first thought was a simple shoulder injury.
His mum Mechelle Kerby said they had to push hard to get a formal diagnosis after Sion developed symptoms including seizures, tics and tourettes. Not only was Sion, a fit and active 13-year-old at the time, unable to walk properly, he couldn't even hold a pen and was having frequent painful shoulder spasms.
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It was heart-breaking for his family to see Sion unable to do the things he loved doing, including playing the piano and cello and going to Air Cadets. The most ironic thing was Sion didn't even play rugby, said Mechelle. He was simply playing as part of a school PE lesson.
Sion, who lives in Penpedairheol, Rhymney Valley, has used the accident to focus on what he can still do said his proud mum. He's always been good with numbers and has been teaching himself A Level accountancy alongside his formal studies since his injury. But this week, he picked up his GCSE maths results obtaining two A*s and a B in English literature to boot. His results mean he's been accepted into the prestigious Harrow School in London, where he will take his maths studies online.
Mechelle said: "Before his accident he was an able and talented child. I've never met anyone like him, just how quick he is at maths." Sion has his sights firmly set on becoming a forensic scientist and dreams of attending Oxford University one day.
Sion was taken to Ysbyty Ystrad Mynach following the rugby injury where he was found to have suffered a shoulder separation and was given a sling as support. "It was such a small thing but it was really horrific," explained Mechelle. "He tackled someone wrong and had a shoulder injury. But that started a functioning neurological disorder in his brain."
His health started deteriorating and he was in pain having frequent migraines and muscle spasms in his shoulder which literally floored him. Mechelle couldn't even hug her son. It looked like he had Parkinsons, Mechelle explained. Eventually they managed to get treatment at Tadworth Rehabilitation Centre in London run by the Children's Trust. The family have also received guidance and advice from the Welsh Rugby Union, Mechelle added. "The WRU charity trust have been absolutely fantastic," she said. "They've given him a scooter so he can get around and a laptop for school."
Left unable to attend school, Sion had an "amazing tutor" who taught him from home. Mechelle credits her as being key to Sion's success. But she is also immensely proud of her "resilient" son who she said has only cried twice throughout the whole ordeal.
"We've just lived through the most bizarre two years of our lives," Mechelle said. "He's just got on with it. He's missed out on so much school." Previously a "placid and laid back" person, Sion really picked himself up after the accident and focused on his studies, she said.
The family celebrated not just Sion's achievements, but older brother Caerwyn's too, with a pizza night at their valleys home. Caerwyn, 16, who has Aspergers, also picked up his GCSE results and walked away with two A*s, five As and five Bs. Both Caerwyn and Sion will go on to study A level maths and further maths together.
"What an amazing achievement for a child from the South Wales valleys to study with Harrow and that's without the obstacles he's had to overcome," said Mechelle. "He'll be studying alongside all these children in big libraries and he'll just be in a little house in the valleys. We could never have offered him that. I've known since he was little that he was really really smart. The fact that he can now go to Harrow is what he deserves."
She added: "We have still got a long way to go but the fact that he's achieved all that is phenomenal. Since the accident a lot of things have been taken away from him and it's made him think about what he can do."
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