Steve was almost catastrophically affected by a subarachnoid haemorrhage in January 2015. Statistically people are unlikely to escape from this brain injury unscathed. It is a random event that can strike at any age and can be a time bomb waiting to go off from birth; Steve's struck when he was 58. he was a fit non-smoker who drank moderately. There were very few signs of what was happening internally. It was only the vomiting, the excruciating headache and Steve's instincts that made us call the ambulance.

The Neuro Team at Hull Royal Infirmary saved his life. He was in ICU for a week in a coma. He was then taken to High Dependency and then moved to Castle Hill for some rehab. He then had to return to HRI as he wasn’t progressing and a shunt was fitted into his brain to drain fluids.

Progress was slow and steady for several months but then the shunt developed a fault. After a number of stays in HRI Mr Bahl identified where the problem was and operated again to fix the shunt.

As part of the initial bleed, the nerves that are used to control the eye muscles were badly damaged resulting in Steve having severe squints in his eyes. Apparently it’s unusual to have this problem in both. So Mr Innes who works in the Eye Hospital took up the challenge to rectify them. Currently it’s difficult to tell how many operations and how much work has gone into straightening Steve’s eyes. My guess is he’s had seven operations in the three years.

The cost to the NHS in terms of treatment in so many forms, for example, the surgical treatment, the visits from the Stroke Team, the physiotherapists, the provision of a wheelchair, the counselling and medication must run into a six figure sum at least but the benefits to Steve are immeasurable. He’s been given the chance to take his life forward and now the time to try to repay the debt in some small way.

By doing the sponsored walk Steve has a purpose once again; to get fit and raise much needed funds for the NHS. Although the debt can never be repaid, he can put something back for other people that will need the skills of this amazing institution.

On the 16th of September this year we will be doing a sponsored walk in order to generate funds, if you would like to join us please contact Gill Foster for details - yewlodge@gmail.com