Hunter was staying with his dad and grandparents in the lead up to his 14th birthday last month when he started to develop a migraine.
His grandmother took him to Kempsey Hospital where staff told the family Hunter was simply suffering from a viral infection and needed to rest.
Later that night, his dad took him back to hospital but he was sent home again with the same diagnosis.
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“He had viral symptoms for a few days, but they didn’t think too much of it at first because everyone has the sniffles, it’s cold and flu season,” family friend Sonia O’Bree Smith told 7NEWS.com.au.
When he was back in his mum’s care, Hunter’s condition deteriorated, and his lips turned blue, so she took him to Wauchope Hospital.
He then developed a temperature of 42C and an ambulance was called to take him to Port Macquarie Base Hospital.
There, Hunter was diagnosed with meningitis from sinusitis, and an abscess on his brain and one in his sinus cavity.
The next morning Hunter was flown to John Hunter Hospital where he underwent surgery to drain the abscess in his sinus cavity.
Hunter recovered well, however, continued to suffer from headaches and severe pain behind his eyes, and so a decision was made for the teen to have a peripherally inserted central catheter line inserted.
After it was pushed back a few times, Hunter underwent the surgery, however, afterwards he was left barely responsive and had no movement on his left side.
A brain scan revealed Hunter was suffering inflammation on his brain, and so he underwent another surgery where a large piece of his skull was removed, and a large amount of fluid was drained from his brain.
Hunter then woke on July 24, his 14th birthday, with a large part of his skull removed and his right eye unable to open due to nerve damage.
“It is just such a shock … it’s so stressful and tough for both him and his mum and his two younger siblings,” Sonia said.
“How did something so simple go untreated and go so wrong?”
Hunter commenced the correct course of antibiotics and he has vastly improved, however, the extent of the nerve damage is still unknown.
Now, Hunter and his family will spend weeks in the hospital as the teen works with a variety of different rehabilitation teams to get his strength back.
“They will have to continue his rehab here, then in approximately two months he will go back to John Hunter Hospital for further surgery to have a plate inserted into his skull and from there some further recovery,” Sonia said.
“And that is the best-case scenario from here.
“But for a 14-year-old boy to be stuck in hospital and be so limited to what he can and can’t do … it’s hard.”
However, while Hunter and his family have an uphill battle ahead of them, Sonia who organised a Go Fund Me page, says they have been overwhelmed by the community’s support.
“The response has been really overwhelming to all of us… we are just so extremely grateful,” she said.
“It’s given Hunter and his family something positive to focus on, it’s been really refreshing.”
7NEWS.com.au has contacted Kempsey Hospital for further comment.
