“He threw his head quite swiftly and forcefully to the right to check for oncoming traffic, that action led to a sharp pain at the base of his skull, he didn’t think anything of it,”.
But days later, while working from home during the Covid lockdown, his condition dramatically worsened as he entirely lost all vision. His wife at the time rushed him to hospital, where doctors later confirmed he had suffered a stroke caused by a tear in his carotid artery – the main artery carrying oxygen to the brain.
As a fit then 37-year-old, running 10Ks in under 35 minutes, the diagnosis was a profound shock to Patient A. He naturally thought stroke is something for elderly people or unfit people,”.
Patient A was transferred to Salford Royal Hospital, where doctors worked urgently to try to save his life. When initial treatment failed, a specialist surgeon was needed to step in. There was only one neurosurgeon in the hospital who could perform the necessary procedure, but he’d gone home for the day. However, due to Patient A’s age and the fact he’d got two young children, he returned to the hospital to perform the procedure,”.
For a moment, it appeared the danger had passed – but hours later, his condition suddenly worsened. Patient A’s brain started to swell and at first, they told his family that he wouldn’t survive – or that he’d be in a vegetative state. In a final attempt to save his life, doctors carried out emergency surgery.
“Patient A has been told subsequently that I had about three minutes left to live.”
When he woke from an induced coma, Patient A could speak but had lost movement and feeling down the left side of his body, half of his skull had been removed and he had double vision.
His initial month-long recovery and rehabilitation took place in isolation in hospital due to Covid restrictions. He left hospital able to walk with the aid of a walking stick. However, he was both physically and mentally a long way from the person he was pre-injury.
Indeed, when he returned to his family home, his youngest son’s comment was “that looks like my daddy, but that’s not my daddy”. His family struggled to adapt to the new person that Patient A had become, and this continued for a considerable period, eventually leading to his divorce from his ex-wife in 2025.
As well as the physical impact of the brain injury, Patient A suffered significant mental health problems (including PTSD, anxiety, depression, and lack of confidence). It took Patient A a long time to accept the new version of him and to let go of the old him, which was something he could not return to fully being.
Patient A’s mental health further deteriorated following an epilepsy diagnosis and the side-effects of the medication he must take to treat that condition. However, Patient A identified these issues and sought treatment. He has also developed a newfound faith in Christianity.
Luckily, Patient A went from walking aided by a stick to walking unaided and eventually managed to start running again. Notwithstanding this, the prospect of running competitively again was not something he felt able to even contemplate.
Patient A has been a keen runner since his teenage years and returning to running has done wonders for his mental health, as he enters an almost meditative state when running.
Patient A is now set to embark on his biggest challenge to date by attempting to complete the London Marathon to raise funds for the Stroke Association.
