14th December 2017, a day that will be etched in my memory forever, a day when I realised a stroke can hit anyone, anywhere no matter how fit and healthy they are. When your world is rocked and your dreams fall apart. 

Clive suffered a Ischaemic Stroke, one moment he was sat on the sofa chatting and the next he was slumped, face dropped and struggling to speak. My instinct said 999, and I will forever be grateful for the quick and rapid response of our NHS and ambulance service. After initial assessment at QA hospital, Clive was transferred to Southampton General for an emergency operation to remove the blood clot. The prognosis following the operation was good and it looked like the speedy response had limited the damage on the brain. However 3 days later Clive was becoming more unresponsive and a CT scan showed his brain was swelling and pushing against his skull, starving his brain of oxygen. An emergency operation was required to remove part of his skull, a craniotomy. Following the craniotomy, we were told the worst, that Clive would need 24 hour care and would probably never speak again. 

But he proved everyone wrong, 24 hours after the operation he was breathing without oxygen, 48 hours after he was transferred from Neuro-ICU and 72 hours after he was telling Christmas carol singers to go away!!!. He was transferred back to QA on the 30th December 2017, and spent 5 months in hospital on F1 Ward, learning how to walk, talk, and rebuild before coming home on the 17th May 2018.

The stroke changed his life, but Clive refused to let it break him and refused to let him stop doing things. He walked down the aisle for our wedding on the 14th July 2018, we went to Grenada, Caribbean for our honeymoon and numerous other holidays during the next 12 months. He was an inspiration and always will be.

Unfortunately in the early hours of 18th October 2019 he suffered a second stroke in his sleep. This stroke effected the other side of his brain and he never regained consciousness and passed on the 30th October 2019. 

Clive loved running and keeping fit. He introduced me to running in 2007 and we spent numerous holidays running and exploring, including running a half marathon uphill in the Norwegian Fjords, and a 9 mile run in the Caribbean on the morning of my 40th birthday.

I'm running the Cardiff Half Marathon in memory of Clive and anyone that has been affected by a stroke or lost someone to a stoke.