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The reason for this madness and me agreeing to run with Deb and Darren, is because of my Mum Joan Bate:-

 On , my Mum fell down the stairs at home, and as a result of her fall she broke her neck at C5/C6 vertebrae, plus she hit her head during the fall, and had a bleed on her brain.

The road has been a really rocky one for my Mum - initially it was "Touch and Go" as to whether she would pull through or not, and against the odds she did survive the surgery, she was then transferred into intensive care at the DRI (Which was closing down so she was the last patient in the intensive care).  She was then very lucky and was transferred to Sheffield Spinal Unit only after a couple of days.  At this point Mum was very confused, and was saying rather random things (including convincing us that she had travelled from Derby to Sheffield upright in the stretcher !) but bit by bit she came through the bleed on the brain, and today, mentally is fine. 

Unfortunately her neck injury hasn't been so quick to heal, and the surgery she had to put a plate into her C5 vertebrae didn't hold, so back in June she had to have a halo fitted to her skull. This was awful for Mum, but she is such a strong lady that she had coped well (With a few tears!) and now luckily has had the halo removed. 

She continues to take 2 Steps forward and 3 steps back, as she developed pressure sores from sitting in her wheelchair so now has to go back to bed for several hours at a time, so this hampers her Physio and Occupational Therapy treatments.

Mum's injury is still considered to be "Incomplete" which means she has feeling below her injury, but at present she only has the use of her arms, and her hands are yet to regain movement, although she continues to have feeling in her legs etc.

spinal unit have been exceptional with their care, and in particular I have found a lot of emotional support from talking to the Aspire people who visit the hospital on a regular basis to offer advice for patients and family members.

 

Please donate anything at all that you can afford - I know times are hard at the moment, but any spare change you have we would greatly appreciate it, as without the support of these charities when people find themselves in these very very difficult circumstances they would really struggle.

Thanks

Gill

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