This is Jon Howarth and his life changed forever when in March 2012, aged 47, he suffered a massive stroke, caused by a blood clot to the left side of his brain. The clot had formed in his heart due to a detached pacemaker lead. Jon had been fitted with a pacemaker since he was 7 years old.

In hospital he was given clot busting treatment to prevent further trauma to his brain, but because of the extensive damage his brain continued to swell. It got to the point where it became life threatening and he was airlifted to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth for an emergency craniotomy where a section of his skull was removed to alleviate the internal pressure.

As a result of the stroke Jon has been left with life long disabilities. He has a communication disability called Aphasia, which makes talking very difficult and frustrating. Also he has hemiparesis; which means weakness on one side of the body, and in Jon's case it is the right side of his body, and because of this weakness he needs the use of a wheelchair whenever he needs to go out.

And this is where we need your help:
Prior to Jon's stroke he (we) used to be very active, and on days off from work used to spend our time going on long walks, the beach, the moors, woodland treks. But since the stroke we haven't been able to do any of these.
Jon does have a wheelchair but we have found that it is not really suitable for all his needs. Therefore after much research we have found a new everyday wheelchair (Quickie Helium) that can be simply converted to being an all-terrain trike, just by swapping out the rear wheels for mountain bike wheels and adding a single front wheel which effectively lifts the small front wheels off the ground (Freewheel Pack). This will enable him to be more active, and to stimulate his mind by remembering some of those familiar places that he loved so much. This wheelchair really would be such a life changer for Jon.

We would like to thank you for taking the time to read this.