This is a photo of my beautiful daughter Alisha, bursting with joy & pride at the beginning of an adventure to fulfil her dream of studying at university and living independently, taken on 4th September 2024.

Less than 4 weeks on from this photo being taken, Alisha’s dreams were shattered when she was struck by a car that mounted the pavement, leaving her critically injured. She sustained multiple life-threatening injuries, including a broken neck, fractured skull and traumatic brain injury.

She had emergency surgery and was placed in a medically induced coma in an attempt to create the conditions her body needed to heal. Unfortunately, the brain injury my daughter sustained was too severe and, she required further surgery as all further non-surgical options had been exhausted.

Thankfully the additional surgery was successful and, Alisha’s condition eventually stabilised to the point where the doctors could start to reduce the medication that was keeping her sedated.

There are many things I’ve learnt through this journey, not least that the prognosis for a person who has sustained a traumatic brain injury is largely unknown until the patient’s ability to undertake a specific function or action is tested.

The tests start at a very basic level, checking functions that until very recently I’ve taken for granted, such as the reflex that causes us to cough. I can now tell you with a high degree of certainty that if you lose this reflex, the prognosis is very bad as you are unable to clear secretions from your airways. Alisha’s cough reflex was fortunately still present enabling doctors to continue waking her and consider extubating to ascertain her ability to maintain her own breathing which, thankfully she was also able to do.

For the first day or so after Alisha was woken, she didn’t move any limbs so we prepared for the possibility that she might be paralysed from the neck down, as a result of her injuries. Over the next few days, she gradually started to move her right arm and leg. We were advised by the doctors that the lack of movement on her left side is likely due to the location and severity of her brain injury and again could be permanent, so we started to prepare for this outcome. Over the subsequent days and weeks my daughter defied the odds again and, started to move her left limbs and she gradually regained full controlled movement of all her limbs.

Alisha’s capacity to speak and swallow needed to be assessed, and after more painstaking assessment, she was deemed to have the capacity to swallow, and we were able to start to introduce normal foods back in to her diet. She has also fully regained her ability to speak and is once again thankfully a very vocal member of our family.

In addition to the physical impact of her injuries, Alisha’s cognitive capacity was also significantly impaired as a result of the brain injury she sustained. She regained many cognitive functions at an astonishing rate with the neuro team using the analogy of a jumbled-up filing system being reorganised to help understand the process my daughter's brain is going through to make sense of the world and recover from her injuries.

The remaining cognitive deficits mostly relate to the functions that resided in the area of Alisha's brain that was permanently damaged, these are taking longer to recover as she needs to relearn these functions in a new part of her brain. The great news is that she has shown progress in many areas where cognitive deficit persists giving us hope that with continued hard work and determination, we will get her back close to where she was before.

The support we as a family have received throughout this whole ordeal from our wonderful families, friends, colleagues and employers has been truly remarkable, they have been with us every step of the way. The whole experience has been every parent’s worst nightmare but, it has been made slightly more bearable thanks to the support we continue to receive.

The medical teams that treated Alisha from her initial surgery on the day of the accident, through her time in ICU and on the trauma ward, have also been truly amazing, as were the therapy team and rehabilitation team who treated her in hospital. We will be forever indebted to these people for saving our daughter’s life and getting her to the point she is at today.

We have created a first class home-based therapy team has enabled us to get Alisha discharged from in-patient care and back home 3 months on from the collision which is where she wants to be. The team has build an amazing intensive rehabilitation program which, if successful will see Alisha return to university in September 2025 to start her studies a fresh. Whilst success is by no means guaranteed, I’m confident that with her continued tenacity and determination, we will get there, and I've committed that I'll do everything in my power to make this happen.

None of this would be possible without the amazing work of the paramedics who were first on the scene and provided immediate care to my daughter. The paramedics were supported by the wonderful team at the North West Air Ambulance who provided advanced medication and treatment which undoubtedly saved Alisha’s life.

The North West Air Ambulance is funded 100% by donations with costs of in excess of £15M per year and, I'd like to do something to show my gratitude to this wonderful charity. Anyone who knows me will be aware that I've been a runner for more years than I care to remember and, those who know me well will know how adamant I've been over the years that I'll never run a marathon. Whilst this is still my fundamental position, I feel compelled to do something that will really push me and, a marathon ticks this box.

Alisha was studying in Manchester which is also where the collision happened, therefore I feel it is fitting that I run the Manchester marathon. This will be a tough challenge physically, as it is double the longest distance I've run previously, and emotionally, given that the route takes in views of Salford where Alisha spent her most difficult days in hospital, it also goes very close to the scene of the collision.

So why am I telling you this? To share our story and tell you how immensely proud I am of my daughter Alisha, and the rest of the family. To help anybody who is going through tough times by showing them that people can get through these and come out the other side. I think the story also demonstrates that there is hope, even in the depths of despair and, for me has given a new, more balanced perspective on life where I have more appreciation for the things that really matter.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my page, read my story and donate if you choose to do so.

Dave