When Mark Pierlo (31) from Heeswijk-Dinther does a job on the ladder with family in December 2023, disaster strikes. He falls and suffers serious brain damage. A long, uncertain time follows for him and his family. Now, two years later, they can look ahead again and their Christmas looks very different.
It is December 9, 2023 when Mark falls from the ladder of the parents of his partner Laura van Dalsum (30). Laura sat at his hospital bedside for hours, while Mark was artificially kept asleep. “You really live from day to day,” she says.
Mark had suffered a serious brain injury. The pressure in his brain only increased, causing his skull to have to be lifted to create more space. “On the fifth day after the accident, his skull had to be removed. It was later replaced,” Laura explains.
Lots of relearning
After five weeks, Mark regained consciousness. He first went to a rehabilitation clinic in Eindhoven and later to a clinic in Woerden. He had to relearn many things, such as eating, drinking and walking. Laura was also only able to talk to him better again after six months.
Just before the accident, they found out that the couple was pregnant with their second child. “During Mark’s journey, we were able to welcome our son Mick. Mark did not consciously experience the entire pregnancy. We felt that was an added bonus.”
Mark was able to be present at the birth. His mother was there to take care of him and Laura’s mother was there for her. Two days later, Mark had to return to the rehabilitation clinic. “It was a very uncertain, hectic period,” she reflects.
Share story with a larger audience
For the first few months, Laura kept her story in a book, so that they could always read it again together later. Yet at a certain point she decides to share their difficult period with a larger audience. She first starts blog page Brain damageso that people who were a little further away from them also stayed informed about how they were doing.
When things started going well for Mark, she also started sharing videos on TikTok. She shows her followers how Mark recuperated and how he was able to do things himself again, step by step.
Laura shares their story and experiences to help other people in a similar situation. “On TikTok I saw so many similar stories that I was looking for two years ago.”
Mark has been away from the rehabilitation clinic for a few months now. He is still waiting for surgery on his eye that may improve his vision. He is otherwise doing well, Laura says. “He has physically recovered so well. He is eighty percent back to his old self. He can take care of the children at home, so that I sometimes have breathing space and can do fun things.”
Maybe a carpenter again in the future
Mark worked independently as a carpenter and they expect that he may be able to pick up this again in the future. “He spends a few hours a week working at a timber yard. Also to see what he can and cannot do.”
These holidays will look very different for the young family this year. And that in a positive sense. “Two years ago, Mark was still in a coma and last year he was still recovering for a few days,” says Laura. She continues: “We can now enjoy it in a different way.”