Marie Therese House is a specialist Neurology Rehabilitation Center based in Hayle, Cornwall. They treat patients from all over Cornwall, in a caring and calm environment specifically designed for the complex needs of those recovering from a Neurological injury.

Our connection with Marie Therese House came about after my 17 year old daughter, Bridget, became an inpatient there following a sudden illness which began back in September 2018. After suffering from a fit on her first day at College, she began losing control of parts of her body. This compounded for several weeks, by which time she was suffering full body seizures every few minutes, 24hrs a day. She became completely unable function and ending up in the Intensive Care Unit at Royal Cornwall Hospital where she was finally diagnosed with and treated for, Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis, a rare auto-immune illness.

Following a 3 month spell in the ICU unit she was transferred to Marie Therese House where she began the difficult process of rehabilitation. After a long stay in ICU, without the ability to even sit up in bed, one of the most difficult parts of neurological rehabilitation is learning to sit, stand, balance and walk again. While we think nothing of standing up and walking across a room, re-learning to do it is a difficult, tiring and achingly slow process.

The piece of kit we are raising money for is designed to help speed up this process for Bridget and others like her. We have managed to get hold of a demonstration machine and after only a couple of sessions we have noticed a difference in Bridget's core strength and ability to balance by herself. It is incredibly exciting to be able to see first hand the difference this machine will make to the patients at Marie Therese House and speeding up the process of us getting Bridget home in time to give college another go next year.

In order to raise money we have formed the B Team (B for Bridget!). We are Jon Bairds and Johnnie Wells and with the patience of a saint, Glenn Eldridge from the Ocean Sports Centre on Carbis Bay is helping us, a pair of completely novice paddlers, to compete in challenges and events over the summer.

The first of the challenges was to actually be able to sit in the Ocean Ski ( a racing kayak) and be able to paddle more than 20 meters.... this one we called "20 meters to 20 kilometers" We began it back at the end of Feb and have just finished our first 20km paddle without falling out - of the boat or with each other!

The second, the Celtic Crossing, an endurance paddle from the Isles of Scilly to Sennen - 50kms across one of the busiest and most dangerous stretches of sea in the UK, we completed it back in the beginning of June in a time of 6 hours and 15 minutes.

Then in July we have an actual race to enter - the Celtic Cup, a race around st Ives Bay, against actual paddlers! We will have more info on this as we get it.

Search for Medicotech Thera-Trainer - Balo-536+ to find out more about balance trainers, how they work and how they help people get back on their feet.

Search for The Celtic Crossing to see more information on the first of our paddle challenges.