Not many people outside of our family know this but Back in September, my Parents set off on their dream holiday to Sorrento to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. they had been planning the trip for over a year and couldn't be more excited. This was the very first time they had been abroad on holiday together.

Unfortunately their dream holiday would only last a few days with an accident leading to my Mum suffering horrific head injuries resulting in severe brain damage which would cause her to fall into a Coma in my Dads arms. After being rushed to Hospital in Sorrento and then moved to San Giovanni Bosco hospital in Naples , they performed life saving Brain surgery. She has been in a coma ever since.

After 6 long weeks in Italy, and despite still being in a coma, and after fighting through pneumonia in Italy, she was able to be flown home to the UK to continue treatment in Hull Royal infirmary.

Just a couple of days after being back in the UK we were given the news we were dreading. The dream of mum coming home to continue her treatment to a hopeful recovery did not look good. Assessments and further scans in tandem with the information given by the hospital in taly, showed the trauma and damage was so severe the likelihood, based on these assessments, was that she would never wake up. We were also told they would begin to take away the final help she was receiving from the Machines as there was nothing else they could do, and that we had to prepare ourselves that within 24 - 48 hours, mum would likely tire and slip away.

Forward just a few weeks later and Mum is now in Lincoln County hospital. After being left to breathe on her own she has proven all the doctors prognosis wrong so far and continues to keep fighting, breathing unaided and with minimal care. After further rehab treatment she has begun to respond to some of this treatment and has now shown some small signs of response. The hospital are so surprised by this they have now moved her to Ashby ward for further treatment. The ward being specifically designed to maximise a patients chance of response and to maximise the possibility of recovery.

The fight is far from over but the doctors in Italy and the uk, the Nurses in Italy and the UK and mum herself, have given a glimmer of hope that she may one day wake up, and this nightmare might come to a positive conclusion.

All the money received will be donated to Ashby Ward at Lincoln County Hospital. The Ward is a purpose built, 12 bed, Rehabilitation unit for patients with complex neuro-disabilities and disorders. As a family, we have looked into the possibility of donating part of the money to the Hospital in Italy that ultimately gave her that first fighting chance of recovery by performing (what the UK doctors have described as) unbelievably good brain surgery (and something that, gven mums condition at the start would not have even been performed in the uk) but due to complications in donating part of the money to Italy we will now donate all of the money to Ashby ward itself. This is to give people like my Mum, that miracle chance that they can recover, even against all odds.

We are hopeful that Mums journey is far from over, but in a positive way. You see these stories on the news and think '' God forbid this should ever happen to our family''.....but the nightmare is that it has, and could happen to someone else in the future. Hopefully any donation made can go some way to giving those family some hope by keeping such an amazing ward, dong what it does best. Helping to keep those hopes alive and to help to keep those patients, like my Mum, fighting every day to make it back home.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you can join me in donating to such an amazing cause.

Andy Lovesey

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