“In the blink of an eye, your whole life can change”
The Story
In the summer of 2007, 29th July. I was in a life-changing road accident, leading to a serious head injury where I was admitted to the Neuro Intensive Care Unit at Leeds General Infirmary. I lost 6 pints of blood at the scene of the accident and was in an induced coma for 4 weeks, where the pressure in my head became so serious, I almost had brain surgery. I had multiple organ failures, fractured skull, dislocated arm, broken pelvis, fractured lung, and many other injuries that are too complicated to put down on paper. Full of tubes and constantly having blood transfusions, the teams at the Neuro ICU at LGI were fantastic! Without the teams, I wouldn't be alive today.
Since being discharged from the hospital on September 17th, 2007, I have had a very successful recovery. I have had two head operations to block off one of my main carotid arteries in my head which is what you see on the above slideshow. The carotid artery is the main vein leading from your heart to your head, which in my case had a hole caused by the impact of the crash and made my right eye push forwards and fill up with blood as well as slowly leaking into my head too. A very rare operation was performed on me called an embolization where coiling of 14 meters of platinum was placed to stop the artery leaking blood in my head. Following my recovery, I’ve had to learn to walk and regain my speech to get me back to normal. This has been a massive challenge for me and has given me a different perspective on life.
If you wish to read the full background please click the story link. There are also a few newspaper articles and online websites regarding my connected stories.