The mother of Tharel Thompson, who sustained life-changing injuries following an attack in Reading, has today (21/8) released a statement after Krisma Anthony was convicted of his attempted murder and jailed for 27 years.
“I now know, first-hand, what the saying means ‘Your life can change in a split second.’
“The call I received; no mother ever wants to hear.
“It caused my blood pressure to go through the roof, from all the crying and screaming.
“My body went through something it never did before. I had to borrow money to get on the first flight out from Barbados to the UK that same evening. The flight was the longest eight hours of my life.
“When I first saw Tharel in the ICU, it was heart wrenching. I’ll never forget seeing his head being so swollen. My heart was constantly beating fast, whenever I walked in to visit him, during the stage where he was in a coma.
“Up to this day, I don’t know the damage it has caused to my heart as I am yet to be checked by a doctor. It was very difficult to look at him, especially when his head was completely sunken in, as if half his head was gone.
“Since this happened to Tharel, I have had to relocate to the UK. I lost my home where I lived with Tharel, so whenever we return to Barbados, we will have no place to live. I lost my vehicle because I could no longer afford payments. I have lost over $60,000 (Barbados dollars) that I made in payments alone for the vehicle, as I now have no income, and I had to sign it back to the company I bought it from.
“I may be on the verge of losing my job, which I have been in for over 19 years, and have been on unpaid leave since leaving home.
“I visited Tharel for 127 days before I took the first day off visiting him, because my body was shutting down. I was physically tired, feeling that I couldn’t even walk anymore.
“I only had ten days out of a total of 171 days where he was in hospital and then a rehab facility where I did not visit him.
“I have had many sleepless nights, with just 2 hours sleep. Gradually this was four hours, but since he has been out of rehab, I hardly get any sleep because I have to constantly and closely monitor him. I feel like a walking zombie.
“Now that Tharel is out of rehab, I have had to give him 24-hour care, in terms of bathing, dressing him, preparing meals, everything. It is the same as caring for a baby.
“Before this happened to Tharel, he was a very independent person, but now he has lost this completely.
“The attack on Tharel has affected me mentally, as I constantly look over my shoulder when I am in public, from the fear of also being attacked.
“Tharel has also become very conscious of his safety, checking who people are, and what they are doing. Any noise that he hears, he is always worried that it is someone breaking into the house.
“Since the trial, it haunts me daily, thinking and seeing how he was injured. It will be forever etched in my brain.
“The medical bills have put additional strain on me because I have no idea where Tharel will get over £160,000 from since he also does not have an income as a result of this.
“Since his second surgery, Tharel has been left with part of his skull missing. We still have to consider an additional bill since he has to get another operation to re-cover his brain.
“The surgery that Tharel needs is not something that he can get in Barbados. He will also require further therapy. It has left us with financial challenges because we both no longer have a permanent income and are partially relying on family and friends for support.
“We also do not have a permanent home, and our future is uncertain. Tharel is traumatised because the tendon in his left hand is tight, and he is afraid of having one long arm and one short arm, both because of how this affects his movement, and also how it looks physically.
“At first, the hospital said that Tharel would be paralysed on his left side, but he is making progress, being able to walk up to five minutes unaided, but this is very slowly.
“Before this, Tharel was a very active person. He does not smoke, and he rarely drank alcohol. He played sports such as cricket and tennis, which he cannot do anymore, as he is not able to use his hand again.
“He worked in the lighting industry, doing a very physical job, and now Tharel has been told by a doctor that he will never work again. He is worried about his finances because of this.
“Tharel has lost the peripheral vision in his left eye, and he will never get this back. As a result, he is not able to drive, or ride a bike, because of his vision.
“He is worried about the quality of life he will have in the future because he cannot go on a car journey for more than ten minutes, without vomiting from motion sickness. He is also worried this will affect his social life.
“He has had contact with his friends in Barbados but is unable to see them in person. Tharel cannot lay on the right side of his head, so he is not sleeping much.
“He constantly has to wake to stretch his hand. He has terrible headaches if he coughs or sneezes and has constant pain in his hand and knee.
“In May, not long after he started rehab, Tharel suffered a seizure.
“Although he is now taking medication to prevent further seizures, he is very scared of having another one. We don’t know how long he will be on this medication for.
“He is also taking pain medication. He is extremely scared of having to get the other operation, to cover his skull. He is scared of anything touching his head that will press on his brain.
“Tharel has always been a nice person, and his personality is still the same.
“His employer said that he was the model employee. He has close childhood friends. During his time in the hospital and rehab centre he made a lot of friends of the staff and other patients.
“I would like to say thank you to the doctors, our friends and family and the community who have assisted us while we are here and Thames Valley Police for supporting us through this ordeal.”
TVP
