To start with on 19th April 2018 exactly 31 years to the day after my mum and dad met my dad suffered he’s very first stroke. It was not just the medical strain it left my dad with but it was all that went with it too. Starting with the DVLA taking my old mans driving license away for a more than a month until the doctors said he could drive again. This also led to them suspending my dads cabbing license which meant that my dad had to give up he’s job which he had been doing for 35 years. This hit my dad like a tonne of bricks and to see him so frustrated was heartbreaking.

Just as things were looking on the up for us on July 14th 2018 again exactly three years after me and Ashleigh got together my dad suffered he’s second stroke. In a way this was a blessing in disguise as it got the doctors wheels in motions carrying out plenty of tests. However they didn’t give up on him and neither did he give up. The doctors at the royal London gave him a carotid endarterectomy in July 2018. Followed by a femoral endarterectomy in January 2019 then an angioplasty. 

My dad was strong my dad preserved and now he is as good as gold apart from he’s dodgy leg which he is waiting for another angioplasty in. From here I decided to make the decision to run the London marathon in April 2020. 

Training had started for Me and I was up to running 13 miles by January. Then it felt like my world came crashing down again. Wednesday the 29th of January I was at work  when I got a phone call from a family member telling me that my older brother Damon had been taken to hospital as he was showing all signs of having a Stroke. Just as we all felt that something so negative had turned into a positive with My decision to run the marathon for such a good cause, our world came crashing back down. 

My 31 year old brother, yes 31, had been diagnosed with a bleed on the brain leading to a servere Stroke. He was taken to the royal London hospital at around 2 pm in the afternoon.  once again being such tightknit family we all rush to be by hes side.

Damons blood pressure was too high for them to operate and stop the bleed this meant minute by minute hour by hour damon was deteriorating and me my mum my dad my brothers Ashley Drew Emma all had to slowly watch Damon slip away this was absolutely heartbreaking. My mum and dad had to make the very harsh decision at an attempt to complete the surgery. There was a very slim chance of Damons survival. We were clutching at straws and it was a no brainer we needed to get Damon into that theatre as soon as possible and that is what the doctors and nurses along with my mum and dad’s decision decided to do.

Damon went down for surgery that night and We waited for what seemed like a million years however time passed and all I could think about was what Damon was going through and if he was going to pull through.

We had an update from the doctors are nurses that the operation went well and Damon was through the other side however still not out of the woods Damon was put into a medically induced coma to help his brain recover from the trauma and bleed he had suffered. We went to see him straight away in intensive care and I will never ever get that image out of my head my eldest brother who has looked after and protected me my whole life in a hospital in a bed being kept alive by a machine and a drain in his brain. It felt like life was against us all and for some reason our family deserved to be put through this once again but this time a lot harsher and the reality of possibly losing a member of our Immediate family. 

Damon showed no sign of waking up and things were being decided on an hour by hour basis as Damon clearly wasn’t out of the woods.

On the 3rd of February Damon was still on a ventilator but all the signs were good we felt that there was a glimmer of hope. I have no words for the emotions I had felt that past week or so, from crying with my family, to crying through the night in bed,  to getting my head around the fact Damon may never wake up and we may lose him.

The 7th of February seemed like a huge day for us as we had some small movements and a few hand squeezes thought everybody may think this was just something very small for us it seems like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. All of us was by hes side every hour today to try and get he’s eyes open and Damon was just too stubborn to do it for us.

The 8th of February was another really good day and CT scan came back positive with no sign of any more brain swelling and they removed the drain on his brain. As well as these positive things we had loads of reaction on this day they will open his eyes move his legs and squeeze our hands and we really felt good. I went home that night for the first time since Damons stroke I felt like he was on the mend he was getting better and I didn’t need to be by his bedside or within minutes of it because I knew he was on the mend and I knew he was gonna get through this just like my dad did with his stroke.

On the 12th of  February which is actually dads birthday, Damon was taken off the ventilator and was fitted with a tracheostomy.

A few days later on the 15th of FebruaryDamon started showing off well if his left leg even holding up for a few seconds which to us again feel like a massive thing he was communicating to us with a few nods. This was also the day Ryan finally  proposed to drew after whispering it to Damons ear for a few days but wanted to wait until he was awake enough.

On the 21st of February damon was moved to the stroke ward within the Royal London the intensive care unit doctors were really pleased on how well he was doing and no he didn’t need such hands-on minute by minute care like he had done for the previous nearly 4 weeks.

Finally after nearly a month on 24th of February Damon finally gets hisself out of bed and sits in the chair and even tried to chat to us: 

I’ll be totally honest with you Carry on from here and talk about each day hour by hour described you in so much detail but there’s no point because at this point in time Damon just got better and better every day and we saw a considerable change in him every single day most importantly I knew Damon was getting better when I said to him  about giving him a shave After I’d been  been shaving him for the past three weeks on this day he told me in a roundabout way to leave off and get away from him with a razor.

The next thing hospital was talking about were sending him to rehabilitation centre but COVID was looking and it was looking unlikely they would take him. it seemed nothing was doable as they wanted as many beds free as possible including beds at these rehabilitation centres.

Towards the end of March the hospital went into lockdown meaning we couldn’t see Damon and support him and help him the way we had been for the last two months. So my mum and dad took on the challenge and took Damon into their own rehabilitation centre in their own home me and Damon can get back to his own bed have his own shower and do his own thing.

Fourth of April Damon was discharged home And with everyone being lockdown it was all down to my mum and dad to get Damon back to his best and I’ve got to say with the help and advice from stroke association they done a fantastic job. I would Also like to thank The Stroke Association for their help and guidance with both Damon and Dads recoveries.

I have now made the decision to run the marathon dressed as a GIANT BRAIN.

Please please please, if you CAN donate anything to my marathon campaign for an amazing charity that helped us so much with our Dad and with our brother, even £1, it would mean the world to us. Thank you so much

Every donation is greatly appreciated! However big or small everything counts! See you behind the barriers on Sunday 2nd October 2022.

Love to you all