My Granddad was one of the most active 'elderly' people I know who loved dancing and gardening and had as much energy as me when I was a child. 14 years ago, at 72, he got Guillain-Barre Syndrome. A rare disease which can be caught by anyone, at any age, at any time from a simple flu virus or throat infection. It affects your peripheral nervous system causing complete paralysis. But recovery can be possible.
My Granddad never gave up hope and was able to learn to walk with the aid of a stick and move his arms again. I remember him always saying he 'hated looking like an old person' with his stick but I believe it was his positive attitude that he was getting better every day that kept him going but unfortunately his GBS developed into the more severe form - Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP).
Sadly, on my 21st birthday, he had a massive stroke while in hospital having other treatments for his GBS and CIDP and died 3 days later. Having seen first hand the affect GBS can have on lives I think more awareness and funds need to be raised to help. A year after my Granddad's death The GBS Support Group held a balloon race and I managed to raise enough money to give them their single biggest donation and now I want to do it again.
I need everyone to sponsor me for getting the GBS Logo, (a smiling cartoon tortoise and the letters GBS CIDP), tattooed on my body. This way when people ask me what my tattoos mean at least one of them has a worthwhile purpose as well as being a physical memory of my Granddad and his determination forever.
I am not putting up a target amount because I don't want donations to stop once I reach that amount. I am also not putting a closing date for this as the tattoo is there for as long as I am and would love as many donations as possible. The tattoo was done (like all my tattoos) by Lee at Fineline Tattoo Studio in Leeds.
Thank you,
Ann x
