On Sunday 21st September 2025, I will be taking on the 6 mile (10km) mud obstacle course as part of the East Anglian Air Ambulance's (EAAA) Only The Brave 2025 event.

Me, EAAA and Why

Saturday 23rd June 2018 was a gloriously sunny morning, and myself and a group of friends had planned a leisurely motorbike ride with coffee in North Norfolk. Little did we know that this day would change everything, as after a quick stop at CJ Ball on Salhouse Road, Norwich, we proceeded and got to the North Norfolk Coast, where the ride took a tragic turn.

Five weeks later, I awoke on the Neurosciences Critical Care Unit at Addenbrooke's Hospital, having no idea I had collided with a car, sending me through a wall head-first resulting in a severe traumatic brain injury, including three bleeds on my brain. The accident occurred in North East Norfolk on the Coast Road, and the East of England Ambulance Service reached me within seven minutes, closely followed by the Police and EAAA, who flew me to Addenbrooke's after inducing me into a coma, in which I would remain for five weeks. During this period of time, I was also moved to Royal Papworth Hospital for three weeks following serious lung complications requiring the need for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).

At the time of the accident, I was in the final stage of my PhD study at Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia (UEA). When I awoke from my coma, finishing my thesis was my first thought, much to my wife's disgust (something about priorities). However, I faced substantial rehabilitation challenges, including learning to walk again, relearning basic social skills and reigning in out-of-control impulsive behaviour. After spending a further five weeks in Addenbrooke's Hospital and two more years of hard work and determination with support from Colman Hospital in Norwich, I finally submitted my PhD Thesis in July 2020 and passed my viva in October 2020.

Despite COVID-19 delaying my graduation ceremony until 2022, EAAA organised a unique celebration for me in 2021 on Anglia One (G-RESU), the same helicopter used to enable critical care on scene and to fly me to Addenbrooke's Hospital three years previously. Furthermore, EAAA's Aftercare function helped me piece together several weeks of lost memories while creating a peer-support community for patients, like myself, and relatives. EAAA has become an integral part of my recovery journey; they not only saved my life but, alongside the NHS, they also gave me a new one.

Thanks to Suffolk Constabulary giving me a very rewarding role in the Norfolk and Suffolk Police Joint Cybercrime Unit in 2021, I was able to re-enter the workplace and the Police provided huge support in enabling this. With the Police's encouragement, I am living out my career dream as a Lecturer at Norwich Business School, now working alongside some individuals who have inspired me the most when I was a student at UEA years before. Although with UEA's encouragement, I have retained a voluntary connection with the Police and provide assistance with cybercrime inputs and support where able. Of course, none of this would ever have happened were it not for EAAA and both their acute and ongoing support in my time of need.

I'm stoked by the challenge to participate in "Only The Brave 2025" on September 21st, 2025. Having completed Trek 24 last year, raising over £1200 for EAAA, I would love to raise at least £1,000 for EAAA again, because they rely entirely on community support to provide advanced critical care around the clock.

My recovery will never end, and both EAAA and the NHS have been very candid about this; this is now more about adjustment to life and the neurodiverse challenges I face. Indeed, Colman Hospital finally discharged me in January 2025. On the flip side, there have been some bonuses too, for instance, exercise and physical fitness have become a big part of my life and a mitigating factor to some of the bigger challenges I face. While I am a keen swimmer and tennis player, this will be a fresh challenge as I've never done anything like it before!

I invite you to join me in celebrating this incredible charity that makes such significant impacts for all the right reasons. Your support can help ensure that EAAA continues its vital work saving lives every day. Thank you so much for your generosity! #TogetherWeSaveLives