About Colin
On October 25 2020, the eve of Colin’s 9th birthday, he started to complain of a bad headache while carving pumpkins with his siblings. Over the course of the next hour the headache worsened and something seemed off. He quickly become less responsive to questions and started having body rigidity. We called 911 and once the fire department arrived to our house Colin was completely unconscious and seizing.
Colin was rushed to Kaiser Santa Clara where a CT scan of his head diagnosed a massive brain bleed. He was intubated, placed in a medically induced coma, and a drain was placed into his brain to decrease the pressure inside his head. We were then transferred to Stanford Children’s Hospital for extensive care.
Further imaging at Stanford diagnosed Colin with an intracranial AVM (Arteriovenous Malformation), which is basically an enlarged and fragile collection of blood vessels. This condition is typically congenital and was likely inside him for most of his life.
Colin remained unstable and intubated in the Pediatric Neuro ICU for the next 31 days. He underwent multiple surgeries and encountered an array of medical complications. Colin was eventually given a lifesaving Cranioplasty when the Neurosurgeon removed a large portion of his skull and simultaneously resected his AVM. Following surgery his swelling began to subside, and over the next few days he was able to wean off the ventilator and most of the medications.
Emerging from a coma with significant brain damage was its own challenge. Colin’s body had deteriorated so much that he couldn’t hold his own head up or move any of his limbs. He wasn’t able to talk, or eat, and was going to need significant rehabilitation.
Colin was then transferred to Valley Medical Center, a local and excellent pediatric rehabilitation center. Here the hardest work began. Colin was admitted for the next three months doing 7 hours a day of intensive physical, occupational and speech therapy. He had to re-learn all functionality of daily life; from being confined in bed, to transitioning to a wheelchair, and eventually walking. He also needed to focus on swallowing skills, communication skills, and problems with memorization.
In May of 2023, just one week after our second annual golf tournament Colin again was back in the hospital for additional brain surgery. The bone of his skull was infected from where it was previously removed and replaced. Colin was going in for a cranioplasty to remove the infected bone and replace it with a synthetic plate. During surgery it was found that his AVM had recurred and during surgery Colin suffered an additional brain bleed leading to another stroke. After removal of the AVM, and emerging from the coma, Colin again went back to Valley Medical Hospital. He again had to relearn daily functionality and was suffering from left sided facial and bodily weakness from the stroke.
Colin works hard every day in his rehabilitation journey. He is now home with our family and back in school at grade level. Throughout his journey he earned the recovery slogan: #ColinStrong.
Since returning home Colin has started taking on an advocacy role. His story is now featured in the rehabilitation calendar at Valley Medical Center. He was a recent nationwide finalist for a rare disease drawing contest. Colin has also become a youth ambassador for The Aneurysm and AVM Foundation (TAAF). They are dedicated to bettering the lives of those affected by this rare disease.
Along with our family, Colin started the Colin Beech Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation (EIN: 88-1288056). It is 100 percent volunteer run and pro-bono. Our goal is to direct funds into research and education for those affected by AVM’s. His foundation helps donate to local hospitals, rehabilitations centers, and charities that assist people and families suffering from these conditions.
The Colin Beech Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation (EIN: 88-1288056)