On the 28^th of Jun 2021 Mel suffered from a Sub
Arachnoid Haemorrhage, a bleed in her brain. Mel was admitted to hospital and  within a few hours had the first of what was to be 4 surgeries to save her life. Mel suffered from multiple strokes that left her in a coma for 6 weeks.
Over the next months Mel had many more complications, infections in her spinal column, hydrocephalus (Swelling in the brain) along with contracting Covid 19. When Mel went into hospital, she was 69kg; this dropped to just 37kg in late December. These were the very darkest days for Mel and her family, and on many occasions her family were asked to come to the hospital to say their goodbyes.

Despite this Mel pulled through and after many months of
rehabilitation in hospital and at home Mel has learnt to walk and talk once more. Just a few meters at first, with a few words, then a few more and then a few more. Each day Mel has pushed herself to greater and greater distances, and after only 6 months of training Mel has just completed an 8KM+ training walk in preparation for the big one, a half Marathon walk, 21km, in London in January 2023.

Many people have helped Mel along the way, way too many to
be mentioned here, but you know who you are and how much Mel appreciates your kindness. The main charity that has helped Mel and her family since leaving hospital is Headway, the brain injury association. Mel attends the day care centre 3 days a week and is learning to be Mel, all over again. Mel has learnt to read again and is working on her life skills so she can live as independent a life as possible.

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