Jasmine's story

Movement, a measure of hope

In a single moment, on 5 July 2022, time stopped for Jasmine (Jas) McGough.

The vibrant 14-year-old from Perth was doing what she loved most, riding her mountain bike on a trail with her family in Margaret River, when she hit a log and fell in a particularly harsh position on her back. She fractured her C5 vertebrae and acquired a severe spinal cord injury.

A harrowing accident that ignited her loved ones into action. Every minute suddenly became faster and critical. She was airlifted from the site to Royal Perth Hospital and there, she received life-saving surgery and was admitted to the intensive care unit.

Jas spent six weeks fighting for life in that room, her parents Sophie and Leon by her side 24/7, tag-teaming between home and hospital to also care for her younger brother Charlie and dog Jarrah. She was ventilated and had a tracheostomy to allow her to breathe, which they were told she may need permanently.

Time ticked on, punctuated by the beeps of that hospital ward. A long, painful rhythm, as Jas clung to her life - a parcel of time that she had already lived to the absolute brim. Her current situation was at complete odds with her prior existence.

Before her accident, Jas was an accomplished athlete and beacon of positivity, enjoying a range of sports - surf club, netball, swimming and of course, cycling. Jas had embraced cycling after being picked up through the Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) talent identification program in September 2021. After success at the state championships, she was selected to represent Western Australia at the Junior National Track Cycling Championships, and came home decorated in gold, silver and bronze medals for the state. She even dared to dream of competing in the Brisbane Olympics Games in Brisbane in 2032.

But beyond sports, Jas' mum Sophie recalled other elements of life before her daughter's accident too, "Jas loved school and worked hard academically to achieve. Her favourite subjects were physical education, creative writing, history and photography. She was also a keen artist and played the violin. She was an incredibly independent and mature 14-year-old, our Jas.

"Most of our family holidays were based around cycling, with Jas and Charlie embracing camping trips to try out new mountain bike trails. In more recent years, we also participated in competitive cycling events. Living so close to the ocean and having a backyard pool, made surfing and swimming a big part of our lives too."

While Jas' dreams take a different shape these days, she is still so determined to live and to live fully.

Six weeks after her accident she became stable enough to breathe on her own and was transferred to Perth Children's Hospital to continue her recovery. She stayed there for five months, undertaking a steady recovery program, before eventually returning home.

Home was a time warp back to her previous life and amplified just how much things had changed. It was also a waiting game, to see what movement and functionality may return in due course. Waiting, wondering, she described as being in many ways "terrifying".

"We really didn't know what movement and function I would regain. At that stage, I couldn't fully move my arms or fingers, I couldn't even pick up my drink bottle or give my family a hug. I was completely dependent on my parents and carers," said Jas.

At that time, Jas relied on others for simple things like pulling a blanket up or repositioning her arms during the night for comfort, unable to regulate her own body temperature. She needed a daily hoist to get her from bed to chair, chair back to bed, or to the shower. Everyday tasks of self-care were deeply confronting, repetitive and disempowering for the previously active and independent young woman, and onerous for her loved ones too.

It was a conversation that her mum Sophie had with her hairdresser during that time, that suddenly offered a glimmer of hope.

"She told me about nerve transfer surgery - and frankly, I had never heard of it," recalled Sophie.

"I started to investigate and soon learnt that it was going to take some independence away from Jas, for a while. But our thoughts were that you have to go a few steps back to go forward with this kind of surgery."

Jas was practical and hopeful.

"I really didn't have a lot of function at that time, so I thought it was worth giving it a shot. And it's been great ever since the surgery. We only go forward and not back," said Jas.

Movement and elite sport were a significant part of Jasmine's health, wellbeing, and identity. And as she navigates life after her accident, her big focus now is the recovery of movement. However micro, it is a measure of hope.

Five months after her accident, Jas underwent a nerve transfer procedure with accomplished orthopedic surgeon, Dr Alex O'Beirne, at Perth Children's Hospital in Perth. As part of an ongoing clinical trial, he utilised a new device available for selected patients in Australia, Orthocell's Remplir™ collagen nerve wrap. This device provides compression-free protection around the nerve and an ideal microenvironment to facilitate nerve healing.

A year on from the procedure, Jas has already reclaimed significant movement and function. Whilst lifting her arm above her head, opening and closing her hand, she said, "I can feel things with my hands now that I couldn't before. I have a dog, Jarrah, and I can feel him again too. That little sensation is really amazing."

Regaining that sensation was linked to a split decision in time. Her mum Sophie was called by the surgical team while they were undertaking the transfer procedure and was told they had a chance to do a sensory nerve transfer too. The whole thing took around five hours, but it went well.

"They had finished the motor nerve transfers and then, in the middle of surgery, they called me and said, 'we've got Jas' nerves laid out. They look really good. We've got a chance.' So, they did it and now, she's regaining sensation in her hands which is truly incredible," said Sophie.

A year on, Jas can now text her friends back on her mobile phone, a right of passage for teenagers today. She can even straighten her elbows and is starting to be in position to hold weight too.

"At physio the other day I was doing an exercise on a plinth where I was holding myself up. I was in a sitting position, balancing myself with my hands and my arms. To be able to extend my elbows out, take pressure off and then rock myself from side to side, that's a sign I am regaining my ability to self-transfer. Into a wheelchair, from the bed. It's independence," said Jas.

This new progress, is hope.

"Being able to move these parts of my body that I otherwise wouldn't have - there really is no word or way to describe it. Even the tiny things like brushing my hair, it all matters. We're on track, we're making progress."