Hey everyone, thank you so much for taking the time to look at our Just Giving page! This year, we as a team have chosen to support Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland. We have in the past supported Macmillan Cancer Support and Mental Health Scotland when doing our Kiltwalk fundraising. We always chose a charity close to our hearts at the time of our walk ❤️

This year started very well, we partied our way into 2026 together with our Cancer BEATER that we walked for last year! We danced, drank, sang, drank, laughed, drank and celebrated the end of a tough 2025 and some tears of joy were even shed 🫶🎉❤️ then on January 7th, just a week into our lovely, Cancer free, fresh start........my Mum called me on Facetime whilst I was at my work, she never does that. I answered warily, she was frantic and sobbing "Laura I'm so sorry to do this at your work but your Dad had had a stroke"

My Dad, the strongest, most loving, funniest, amazing man in the world was unable to talk. I literally broke down and headed straight there to be with them. What followed is nothing sort of a miracle.

The ambulance arrived in 8 MINUTES, the paramedics were amazing! He was taken to hospital quickly, given the life saving medication to hopefully dissolve the clot (and restore blood flow to his brain) they spoke of transferring him to Dundee for life saving surgery to take the clot out physically. However, it was found to be too far in for the surgery to work. It was at this point that we were told that we just had to wait and see if the thrombolysis medication was going to work.

We sat by Dad's hospital bed as the wonderful Stroke nurses cared for him. The consultants kept us in the loop the whole time. He had every test known to man, every scan and was looked after unbelievably well in the Stroke unit. He was quickly visited by Occupational Therapy, Physio and Speech & language therapy. We were given instructions on how to communicate with him and told what may or may not happen should the thrombolysis meds not work. We were well informed at all times and felt like Dad was in the best hands! But when we left the hospital, we didn't know what we would face the following day and how he would be over night. The staff were very supportive and gave us all kinds of information to take away and read. It was horrible leaving him there so frustrated. He just looked lost.

However, at 05.24 my phone started buzzing. It was Dad facetiming me from hospital. I asked how he was, and then said just to take his time and concentrate on one word at a time. He took a deep breath and smiled and said "Hi, it's worked, it's all back, I can talk" I just about passed out!

Long story short. My Dad had a full stroke on the Wednesday morning and was home in his own bed on the THURSDAY walking, talking and giving us cheek! He's an actual legend. He's obviously not 100% and is still recovering, but without the NHS and the wonderful staff in A&E and the Stroke unit, he might not even be here!

Please, please help us raise funds for this amazing cause. It means the world to all of us! ❤️🫶

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.