On the 19th February 2018, Jason went into Tunbridge Wells A&E on the advice of his GP having had a persistent cough for weeks. As far as we were concerned, he had a classic case of “man flu”. What happened over the next 6 hours changed our lives forever.
Jason's heart rate was over 200 bpm and he deteriorated rapidly before being taken to intensive care and put into an induced coma. He had pneumonia and sepsis and was clearly very sick but I left him that night believing he would be fixed soon.
The next morning I headed back, naively expecting to be told that he was on the mend.
Instead I was taken to the Relatives Room to be told he had gone into cardiac arrest and multiple organ failure overnight and was on full life support. Things were suddenly serious.
Jason remained in hospital for 50 days, 40 of which were spent in ICU and 21 in a coma. He was often unstable and it seemed that every few days a new problem emerged; a brain injury, a heart that wasn't getting better - the challenges kept coming.
Throughout it all, the expert care of the ICU staff was unbelievable - they literally nursed Jason back to life, providing 24/7 medical care and showed incredible compassion and kindness, not only looking after his immediate medical needs, comfort and dignity, but also caring for me as I spent every one of the 50 days at his bedside.
Suddenly I was immersed in critical medical care and it was scary and relentless. The ICU staff - alongside our amazing family, friends and community, were my saviour. We feel so lucky to have been in their care.
I, along with some of our wonderful friends and even a couple of the nurses, are running the Tonbridge half marathon to raise money for this very special unit.
Please show your support by donating even a small amount to this cause - it would mean a lot to Jason and I. Happily, he is at home where he belongs with me and our two little boys and on the long road to recovery.