Justin was an avid off-road mountain bike rider, regularly cycling around 60 miles cross-country a week. He ate healthily, rarely drank alcohol, and never smoked. After 3 years of trying for a baby, and 3 rounds of IVF, Justin and his wife Angela found out on 8th August 2017 they were expecting identical twins. On 12th August 2017, just 4 days later, he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest, caused by a clot getting stuck in a major artery coming off his heart.

Initially the prognosis was good; he'd had excellent CPR administered immediately, and the "right" paramedic turned up swiftly to administer effective medication and treatment at the scene. He was rushed to hospital and had a stent fitted that evening, and all looked relatively positive.

It soon became apparent that although his heart was now fine, his brain wasn't. When they turned off his sedation 4 days later, he failed to wake up. After 6 hours, his family were told he'd suffered "massive irreversible brain damage", caused by lack of oxygen at the scene; the blood clot had prevented the CPR from being effective. It was suggested that he would never make any sort of recovery. We were told that total paralysis and 24/7 care were the best we could hope for, that he wouldn't regain consciousness. "Everything that makes Justin 'Justin' has gone"...

Well, he's proving them all wrong! Its been almost 12 months since that awful day, and he's doing better than initially expected. We are learning that recovery from a brain injury is a long, unpredictable road, and there isn't a doctor alive who can give any indication as to what the final destination will be. But we do know that those initial disussions about what he'd "never" be able to do were rubbish.

He is awake, he usually recognizes his friends and family, and he can talk! His sense of humour is very much alive and well, and his long term memory is OK on good days. There are days where he forgets he's married, or thinks hes still 23, but there are days where he remembers it all. He is very slowly learning to walk again with much assistance from physiotherapists, learning to eat food again rather than being fed via the PEG tube directly into his stomach. He can also learn new information if its repeated to him often enough He also helped to decide on names for his twins before they were born and remembers these on a good day too.

However, things arent all rosy. Physically he's progressing slowly, but it's the short term memory, understanding and emotional side of things that he needs further help with. There are days where he gets so distressed he needs to be sedated. His short term memory is so poor on some days, that he can ask the same question 3 times in a minute, and repeat this for 12 hours solid. He doesn't always understand why he's there, thinks theres nothing wrong, and gets upset he can't come home yet. We need to address all these issues and more if he is to have any chance of enjoying a better quality of life.

Justin is currently a patient at a neuro rehab facility 3 hours away from friends and family. Once his time there ends it is likely he will live in a long term care facility rather than coming home. This leaves his twin daughters without a daddy at home, and his wife Angela essentially a single mum.

We are trying to raise funds to help with the following;

Fund the cost of travel for the family to visit Justin on a regular basis, To fund a wheelchair accessible car so we can take him for days out more easily, To fund specialist HBOT treatments not covered by the NHS which may help him improve more, and to help with the cost of bringing up his twins. (Having lost both Justin's income, and Angela's in just a few short months, preparing for the arrival of twins has caused massive financial stress)

Anything you can donate to this wonderful, determined, stubborn, funny man and his baby girls would be received most gratefully. Thank you for reading his story.