Two-year-old Ally likes rubbing cream into her mother’s hands and dabbing balm on her dry lips because that is the only contact the toddler has with her mum since she suffered severe brain injury seven months ago.
Her mother, 20-year-old Angie Bajada, looks very different now. Her long hair has been shaved revealing a ring of stitches – where she hit her head when she came off the motorcycle of a young man she had met on the day of the accident.
“What was meant to be a five-minute ride around the block turned into a trauma for our family,” Angie’s mother, Anna, said adding that her daughter was now in a semi-conscious, vegetative state.
Angie can breathe alone, hear and feel pain but she cannot see, talk or move alone except for small movements and sounds.
“They told me she’s going to live. I don’t want her to live in this state. I know she can make progress. But she needs help,” Mrs Bajada said.
Angie’s best friend, Gillian Balani, added: “When Ally goes to visit her, and stands by the side of Angie’s bed, you can see her trying to move her eyes towards her daughter.”
Ms Balani, who has set up a website to raise money to help Angie get better treatment, added: “She has made progress. There are times when you are speaking to her and she blinks slowly, it’s like a nod and you feel like you’re speaking to her.”
Mrs Bajada nodded in agreement: “When we say something about Ally, her blinks are even stronger... The first few times we took Ally to see Angie in hospital, she was a bit scared because she didn’t recognise her mother. But now she knows she’s her mother. When we ask her if she wants to go see her she says: ‘yes, yes’... We don’t want her to forget her mother.”
Angie’s case is very rare and Malta is not equipped with the necessary rehabilitation expertise that would help her make progress, her father, Leslie, said.
A foreign consultant told the family that Angie could benefit from rehabilitation in the UK and the government was currently assessing the situation to determine whether to meet the expenses.
However, the family still needs financial help. They would like to take Angie home and this requires expensive structural alterations and equipment.
Mr Bajada is also contemplating the option of stem cell treatment and, after making some requests, was informed that Angie’s case would be accepted in a German hospital.
“It would cost us about €30,000 for five days of treatment since injecting stem cells in the brain is more expensive,” he said
“Deep down I feel this is our only real chance and best option of giving her a better life. Her brain cells are dead and stem cell treatment could regenerate them... I know there is no guarantee but it’s worth trying for the sake of Angie... We have to hope. Without it it’s not worth living,” he said.
In the months before the May 17 accident, Angie was barely going out with friends. She had broken up after a three-year relationship and had concentrated on going to the gym, dropping to a size eight from a 12, her mother said.
She was about to get a promotion at work, the HSBC call centre, and had her driving test the following week. Her new car was parked outside home ready to be driven.
On the day Angie’s life changed, she went out with a friend to Birkirkara where she met a young man who invited her for a ride round the block on his motorcycle.
They had driven towards Luqa and, as he negotiated a bend, he lost control. She came off the bike and he was hurled onto her.
A doctor, who happened to be driving past, stopped and gave her first aid. The young man only suffered minor fractures.
The family received a phone call at about 3 a.m. telling them what happened and rushed to hospital. Their daughter had to undergo brain surgery to stop the bleeding.
“I know that she understands me when I speak to her... she’s like a doll in bed. Beautiful as ever,” her mother said.
Anyone who wants to help Angie can do so through the registered site Help Angie Bajada ( http://sites.google.com/site/helpangiebajada ).
Donations can also be made by bank transfer to HSBC account 075 142216 001 (Iban: MT03 MMEB 4475 0000 0000 7514 2216 001, Swift code: MMEB MTMT).
SMS donations will soon be possible and will be available on the site.