On Christmas Day 2011 while most of you were enjoying a relatively lovely day, my day turned out not quite as I'd expected.  

Our world was turned upside down when my brother suffered a severe stroke at the age of 29.... 29! Really. He is fit and in the prime of his life, which just goes to prove that yes, a stroke can happen to anyone, at any age, on any given day.  His condition was very poor for a while and had to undergo life saving surgery.

We are lucky enough to have him by our side today -  this just proves how vital stroke research is in saving peoples lives.  If it wasn't for the research the stroke association do, the fast acting amublance staff, the quick thinking and forever caring staff of North Tees Hospital and James Cook, I may have been writing a different story today.

I want to thank you for being here for me, and us, but most importantly please donate whatever you can, it all makes a difference.  I have to raise a minimum of £95, however, I want to raise more. Please help, and yes, I'll be zip sliding off the top of The Baltic Flour Mill in Gateshead for this!!!

Here's the jargon ;) 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.