Bleed on brain left 'happy' Halifax boy battling for life

Nathan Pietryszyk, from Illingworth, was on a trip with his dad to visit his grandparents when he suffered an AVM rupture and a massive brain bleed.

The eight-year-old needed emergency surgery and was put in a medically-induced coma to aid his recovery.

While he is now awake and responsive, he still can not talk or walk and is not well enough to travel home.

Close family friend Alexandra Melnyk has launched a fundraising drive to help the St Malachy’s Catholic Primary School pupil’s family and the medical bills they will face as Nathan battles to get better.

“The doctors said he was very lucky because if it had happened when he was a teenager or an adult, he wouldn’t have had a chance of surviving,” said Alexandra, of Pye Nest.

“He’s an eight-year-old boy who was just laughing and smiling and running about, and the next thing he is fighting for his life.”

Nathan’s dad Artur Pietryszyk, who works at Leo Group near Queensbury, is at his son’s bedside in Poland. His mother, Monika Brzezinska, is hoping to travel there soon but, in a cruel twist, injured her leg earlier this summer and doctors have told her it is not yet healed enough for her to make the journey.

Alexandra’s fundraising, which has included online auctions and a fun day, has so far collected more than £14,500.

Emergency care in Poland is free, she said, but the rehabilitation he will need to start before he is able to come home to Halifax will be costly.

“Nathan has a very long and expensive journey ahead of him to come back to the way he was before this tragedy,” she said. “The coming months or perhaps even years are going to be very difficult for him and his family.

“Nathan is always smiling. He is a very, very happy boy who is full of energy. It’s very difficult to see him like this.”

To donate to the online fundraiser, visit https://uk.gofundme.com/f/help-8-years-old-nathan-recover-after-avm-rupture.

To find out more about the online auctions, search Facebook for ‘Auction for Nathan’.