Celebrating my recovery and honouring Betty & John Skaife.

Seven years ago I had a brain abscess and was in hospital for 12 weeks, suffering paralysis on my right side and an inability to speak, allied to confusion and memory issues. Reflecting on where I am now, my faith, along with great support from my family, friends and work colleagues allied to the skill of the various strands of the medical profession, has brought me to this point.

It has been a long, sometimes difficult, journey. Mum died on the 5th October 2012. She suffered a heart attack a week after visiting me in hospital and died a week later - at the exact time I took my first small steps unaided by the phyisos. Two weeks later I was allowed out of hospital for a few hours and stood using a frame to pay trbute to mum at her funeral. Three weeks after that I came home and started what turned out to be around three years of recovery, more operations and intensive physio. Dad moved into a care home as he was suffering from Parkinson's with dementia. As the care home was near the place mum and dad lived and their church, my wife Alyson and I visited dad when we could, and helped him with his journey grieving for mum and declining health. Dad died peacefully just after Christmas 2016.

My Christian faith originates in The Methodist Church and it was prompted by the example of mum and dad, and the churches at Nunthorpe near Middlesbrough and the local one in Crewe where we currently live. This is the reason that I am funddraising for my local Circuit as I believe that through outreach and mission we can bring more people to believe in the saving grace of Jesus Christ and the comfort, power and ability that brings. Giving people the strength to overcome whatever difficulties they have. Until March this year I was a circuit steward and part of the leadership and finance team. I declare this to be open about my connections to the charity I am raising funds for. The money will be given to them to use as they see fit for mission and outreach. You can find more information on the charity at Cheshire South Circuit Website

To honour that gift of love from mum and dad, and to prove how much I have recovered, I am running the Tatton Park 10k and fundraising for three causes. Mum & dad left us a great monetary legacy so I am using some of that to cover all the costs and fees so that

every penny donated (before Gift Aid) will go to the charities and will be trebled using mum & dad's legacy.

The three causes are the church, the head injury charity of which I am a member & trustee, Head Injured People in Cheshire, and the Royal Stoke University Hospital (UHNM Charity) who 'fixed me' and started me on my recovery.

Details of how to give to the other two charities and more of my story can be found as Skat's Chat Blog - Fundriaser