It's been exactly 1 year since I had a completely unexpected Brain Haemorrhage that turned my life upside down, as well as my wonderfully supportive husband and two gorgeous girls x

I want to raise money to give something back to the Danesbury Rehab Centre in Welwyn Village where I lived for 2 months last year - the care I received there, and the staff were just incredible.

As part of my rehab, I’m attempting to ride 100k throughout the month of July, on my exercise bike at home.

I also thought it would be good for me to share my journey so far:

The Day:

The morning of my brain haemorrhage, I was doing my normal “Mum” duties all morning – taking the girls to school etc.

After spending the rest of the morning enjoying the sun in the garden – I went back into the house to get ready for work.

As I walked back into my kitchen - my leg and arm on my right side started to feel numb and I fell to the floor!

I then tried to get to my phone which was in another room, dragging myself along using only my left side, unfortunately I couldn’t get to it!

Next thing i knew i woke up in hospital…

(Apparently after covering the busy lunchtime shift in my absence, the teachers called my Jonners to ask where I was, as it was unusual to miss work without any warning – two of my lovely work colleagues and Jonners immediately came home and called an ambulance, I had been laying there for over 2 hours, I couldn’t move or speak)

What Happened:

I had a large brain bleed on the left side of my brain impacting my right sided movement among so many other things!

Why Me:

After multiple brain scans, thankfully no major issues were found.

For months we had no reason other than bad luck, which was hard to take, but looking at the latest scan, doctors believe there was an area with twisted veins that burst and caused the bleed.

Thankfully that part of my brain is no longer in use and also, it could’ve happened at any time in my life, so thankfully I wasn’t driving or with my girls.

A Month in Lister Hospital:

Initially I spent a month in hospital where I was completely paralysed along my right side, had trouble concentrating, communicating, was easily overwhelmed, had terrible short-term memory and I couldn’t even understand how to use my phone anymore!

(All in last year’s heatwave!)

2 months in Danesbury Rehab:

I lived in Danesbury for 2 months after hospital, here I regained my ability to read, write, use my phone, talk to more than 1 person at a time, my short-term memory improved too – all through retraining new parts of my brain to carry out tasks I had lost. I also started to regain the use of my body throughout my stay. Without the help and support of the staff there, I don’t know how I would’ve achieved it.

After Danesbury:

I’ve completely recovered in many ways, thankfully including my drawing!

My right side is my final hurdle – I have movement in every muscle but lots of weakness/stiffness that I’m battling against as I look to re-learn to walk again un-aided.

The arm and shoulder have improved massively as I’ve focussed on that over the past few months with injections and physio work.

With my leg, I’m making very slow but steady progress which I hope to continue, I’ve started working with a new physio last week and riding the exercise bike will help massively!

Alongside all of these challenges it’s been a rough ride coming to terms with it all and learning to adjust to my new life.

Any donations will be greatly appreciated!

Lots of Love Emma x x