‘Pádraig enjoys his life. But it is very different from the life he probably thought he would have’

A decade ago, Pádraig Schaler’s life changed in an instant. The then 23-year-old was cycling to work on the morning of June 27th, 2013, in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, while on a J1.

Pádraig, who had just completed an undergraduate degree in Irish and history at Trinity College Dublin, was struck by a van in the small town of Brewster and thrown off his bike. He hit his head off the pavement and suffered a severe acquired brain injury (sABI). No one was ever prosecuted in relation to the collision.

“You hear about these things happening and you think, ‘That is terrible’, but you never ever think it will happen to you ... until it does,” says Pádraig’s father, Reinhard.

Mr Schaler was working at a conference in China when his wife Patricia called him in the middle of the night to tell him their son had been badly injured.

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“I got three flights and rented a car, it took about two hours to get from Boston to Hyannis,” he says. “I arrived the next day and I don’t think I had ever been in an ICU [intensive care unit] before ... it was only then, when I saw him for the first time, it all became very real.

“One of the consultants said he will have an intolerable life, his life will be very different. We were asked on numerous occasions about organ donation ... we decided we would bring him home.”

Pádraig was treated in intensive care at Cape Cod hospital and later transferred back to Ireland, where he spent more than three months in a high dependency ward in Beaumont Hospital. His parents decided to transfer him to a specialised neurorehabilitation facility in Hamburg, Germany, where, as a German citizen through his father, he could avail of healthcare.

The family, who moved back to their home in north Dublin in 2015, say Pádraig still requires 24-hour care but that he can hear and understand them, using a small beeper to communicate.

“I have been crying all week,” says Mr Schaler, days on from the 10th anniversary of the incident. He and Patricia considered travelling back to Cape Cod with Pádraig this week, as they had done for the five-year anniversary.

Instead, the family decided to visit Tramore, Co Waterford, and met up with one of Pádraig’s friends, who had been on the J1 with him.

“Pádraig was crying on Tuesday too,” adds Mr Schaler. “He was upset, he knows, he understands ... Pádraig enjoys his life. But it is very different and far away from the life he probably thought he would have.

“There is an acceptance that this is our new life as well and you learn how to live with it. Our lives are very different now. People will say, ‘Have you read this book or have you seen this movie’. I don’t have time to read a book. Me and my wife, we very rarely go out. We spend most of out time caring for Pádraig.”

Mr Schaler says the months after the incident were “very scary” for the family as there were “always things happening”.

“Pádraig’s lung collapsed, he got infections, his carers were asking where he would live, there were also concerns around spikes in temperature,” he says. “After two to three years, it settled a bit. We came back to Dublin. But then we were always scared he would get seizures at home, during the night, but nothing happened. Now we have more of a routine for Pádraig, especially with the [An Saol Foundation] centre.”

Mr Schaler says it was their son’s “courage and inspiration” that resulted in them setting up An Saol Foundation in Santry, which has since developed into a neurorehabilitation centre helping those affected by a severe acquired brain injury.

The centre was originally established in January 2020 as a pilot programme, receiving €1.5 million funding from the Health Service Executive. However, the health authority has recommended consolidation and expansion of the centre and promised further funding, with 28 clients now availing of its services.

“It is our duty to care for one another, no matter what the injuries are. Nobody should be written off,” Mr Schaler says.

“June 27th, 2013, will always be the most life-changing day of our lives. We hope that Pádraig’s resilience and his example as a trailblazer will make people think twice, especially health professionals, before they write off those affected by sABI and condemn them to a slow and solitary existence in a nursing home bed.

“Their life is as meaningful as everybody else’s, they have a right to live their lives with their injuries; and they can, despite their life-changing injuries, have an interesting, loving and meaningful life, with fun moments and great experiences.”