Timothy was 10 years old when his personality changed overnight. A concussion during a family ski trip in December 2016 left him unsteady on his feet

A Boy, His Brain, and a Decades-Long Medical Controversy

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2021-06-14 23:30:07

Timothy was 10 years old when his personality changed overnight. A concussion during a family ski trip in December 2016 left him unsteady on his feet, but that was just the first sign something was wrong. The strawberry-blond boy who played on the chess team and looked forward to Mandarin lessons became withdrawn, obsessive, and suicidal. Back home in Marin County, California, he said “bad men” had surrounded his family’s house and were trying to get him.

Timothy’s parents, Rita and John, took him out of school while doctors tried to decipher what was going on inside his head. (The family members’ names have been changed to protect their privacy.) Rita suggested that her son take up knitting to fill the time. Once he started, he couldn’t stop. Compulsive thoughts haunted him, and he refused to wear many of his clothes, fearing they were contaminated.

The boy’s doctors were stumped. Concussions can cause mood changes, but not like this. They ran test after test, searching for a diagnosis. When Timothy’s parents wrestled him into the car to take him to various clinics—for brain scans, blood draws, immunological workups—he told them he wanted to jump out onto the highway. “You’re not my mom,” he yelled at Rita. In March, he started leaving the house and running barefoot through the surrounding fields. His parents placed a go bag near each door with bottles of water and a walkie-talkie. When Timothy ran, his father would slip on sneakers, grab a bag, and run alongside him until he tired. Eventually, the couple hired a military veteran to keep an eye on their son day and night.