As many of you know, my Dad had a stroke 3 days before Christmas and our world turned upside down not knowing why, what the damage was and if it could be repaired. He was perfectly fine the day before, he doesn’t smoke, isn’t overweight and doesn’t drink very much at all but woke up in the morning acting very strange, confused, barely able to walk, face drooped but thankfully due to my mums quick thinking to get an ambulance to him, he was taken into hospital and assessed within the hour. This is really important with strokes.

When stroke strikes, part of your brain shuts down. And so does a part of you. Life changes instantly and recovery is tough. But the brain can adapt.

The NHS is under incredible strain and needs more help. The Stroke Association and in particular the Community Stroke Team were incredible. You hear all the time that recovery is largely down to the support you have to help aid new connections in the brain and re-learn simple things that we take for granted.

Dads stroke was classed as fairly minor but 4 months on he still has lasting effects that may stay or may improve with time. Currently he can’t be left alone for longer than about an hour, he can’t drive, he struggles to remember names and places, gets confused and can’t walk nearly as far as he used to. However, this is a huge improvement compared to how he was earlier in the year. I feel we are slowly getting our dad back and this is down to the support and guidance from the Community Stroke Team who up until last week were coming out most days to work with him and help mum and the rest of the family with activities we can do with him to help rebuild his brain. It’s been tough and frustrating but they have been there and have really helped Dad. I can't thank that support enough.

The Stoke Associations latest appeal caught my eye and I really want to help give something back to the people that have helped make our lives whole again. Therefore for their Make May Purple  campaign I’ve decided to dye part of my hair purple with the help of my lovely hair dresser Jackie who is donating her time to the charity to support me.

Anyone that knows me knows that I’m very plain, boring some would say! The most adventurous I’ve ever been with my hair is having a fringe cut in and that was a huge, long and drawn out decision..... being blonde, purple will really stand out.....

I’m also hoping to wear purple as much as I can through May and encourage you all to do the same. Just as a reminder about how lucky we are in this country to have the NHS and ambulances and community support teams which make a huge difference to people’s lives everyday.

Thank you in advance from the bottom of my heart for anything you can donate to this wonderful charity.