Hi everyone,

On February 5th, 2015 I was admitted to Southampton General Hospital via A&E. Within hours I had the first of two surgeries to treat a potentially fatal brain abscess. I spent most of the first week in an induced coma in the intensive care unit at the Wessex Neurological Centre at Southampton Hospital. I have no 'Hollywood' coma memories of seeing all my old pets or floating around the hospital, I just remember waking up with various bruises and unexplained puncture marks. I had a tube I was fed through and another elsewhere I peed through. The most prominent for me though, was the tube I breathed through. It meant I couldn't talk and I had to write down when I needed to cough, a suction tube was placed down this tube. I was mostly wires and tubes. Once I left intensive care I was moved to a ward where I received brain saving iv antibiotics. After 34 days I was discharged. On March 11th, to mark this anniversary, my partner and rock whilst I was in hospital, Colette Richardson and myself will hike Scafell Pike, the highest peak in England to raise money for Percy's Pals, a charity in aid of the department that saved my life and left me able to lead a full life today. Percy's Pals are looking to raise £250,000 to buy a portable ct scanner, so that critically ill patients needn't be moved from their dedicated specialist teams and equipment in intensive care and aid speedier diagnoses. The Wessex Neurological Centre not only benefits the people of Southampton, but serves a population of 3 million across the south, including hampshire, West Sussex and Dorset. People with acquired brain injury, like stroke, or with traumatic injury like those sustained in a road traffic accident have their lives saved everyday by this fantastic department offering critical care and rehabilitation. Anything you can give, no matter how small, will help towards greatly improving the chances of recovery for the sickest people being treated at the Wessex Neurological Centre.