On Wednesday 11th Feb our dad (farmer Michael) got rushed to hospital after experiencing excruciating pain in his stomach. He was seen swiftly in a&e and it was there they realised he had a tear in his aorta, and also a blood clot in his leg. He was transferred to Wythenshawe hospital - the Cardio Thoracic Critical care unit. The following day they operated and removed the clot from his leg with this being a priority, as well as performing a femoral crossover to allow blood to flow more freely to his leg. The plan was to give him a couple of weeks to recover before operating on his aorta but a few days later they realised the tear was getting worse and they couldn’t wait any longer so proceeded to do the aorta dissection operation on tues 17th Feb. He spent 12 hours on the operating table and luckily the operation went well. However after this he started to deteriorate. His kidneys stopped functioning and he got an infection in his lungs. He was in an induced coma for numerous days to allow his body to recover but each day was touch and go. When they were finally able to reduce the sedation he came back round and was able to begin the recovery process. We always knew he was a fighter!

All in all he spent 24 days in critical care in Wythenshawe and we are extremely grateful for the life saving surgery and care he received whilst in there. Therefore we are now hoping to raise money for the CTCCU ( C00379 – Cardio Thoracic Unit)

to give back, thank them, and ensure that they can continue to give the exceptional level of care they do.

Dad is now taking every day a step at a time but is recovering well at home.

We will be running the Manchester marathon on Saturday 19th April so we would really appreciate your donations if you can - thank you!

Fiona & Rebecca x