Timeline of Events
Normal Life
Period: July 2015
- Forty-five years of age
- Resided in the central England town of Newcastle-under-Lyme
- Employed by the Metropolitan Police Service in London as a freelance IT security consultant, since 2011
Road Traffic Collision
Date: 31st July 2015
- Collision between a car and my bicycle at 11AM in Nantwich, Cheshire
- Transported by a North West Air Ambulance (helicopter) to the NHS Royal Stoke hospital in Stoke-on-Trent
Neurosurgery
Date: 31st July 2015
- Surgical evacuation of the right extradural haematoma
- Insertion of an Intra-Cranial Pressure (ICP) monitor
Post Operation
Period: 31st July 2015 to 25th September 2015
- Cared for in the critical care ward of the Royal Stoke Hospital for forty-two days from 31st July 2015, then the neurosurgery ward for twelve days
- Comatose from 31st July 2015 to 27th August 2015; recorded as Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) 3 for the first sixteen days
- Locked-in syndrome from 27th August 2015 to 3rd September 2015
- I’ve no recollection of events in August and September 2015
NHS Rehabilitation Ward
Period: 25th September 2015 to 4th November 2015
- Admitted to the Broadfield ward of the NHS Haywood Hospital in Stoke-on-Trent, where I remained for forty-two days
- Assisted in walking outdoors safely and encouraged to integrate with other patients
- Undertook cooking classes and participated in group quizzes
Discharged to Home
Date: 4th November 2015
- Ruth (my life partner) took the month of November off work to support me
- I visited the critical care ward staff at the Royal Stoke hospital with Ruth, but didn’t recall any of the staff or recognise the surroundings
Dip in Progress
Period: December 2015 to February 2016
- Ruth has advised me that I struggled with adjusting to my new life outcome. My sense of purpose was vastly diminished, and I feared the future
- A throat problem meant I struggled to swallow anything other than liquids. I had unusual tingling sensations in my fingers and lips, this was later diagnosed as symptomatic of focal epilepsy
Volunteering
Period: June 2016 to July 2017
- Began volunteer dog walking in June 2016
- Helped out in the storeroom at the Newcastle-under-Lyme Midlands Air Ambulance charity shop from August 2016
- Undertook a befriending role with the Royal Voluntary Service (RVS) from September 2016 until July 2017
- Volunteered as an IT buddy at my local library from November 2016 until July 2017
Driving Licence Reinstated
Date: 14th November 2016
- I’d surrendered my driving licence following my hospital discharge; sixteen months after my injury date later it was reinstated following an online appeal to the DVLA
Professional Work
Date: 24th July 2017
- Returned to the Met Police in London as an IT security consultant
- To update my IT skills, I attended a three-day Amazon Web Services (cloud) training course in June 2018. Despite enjoying the learning experience, I retained zero knowledge of what I’d been taught
- Spent two further years working as a freelance IT security consultant with various customers – mainly banks and police forces
Volunteering
Period: September 2019 onwards
- Typically volunteering in roles leveraging my IT skills, helping the elderly, or supporting folk with brain injuries
- Participating in NHS / clinical university studies with goals of assisting brain injury survivors to regain their life purpose
Professional Retirement
Period: September 2021
- I recognised that keeping abreast of new technology wasn’t possible
- I was content that I’d had a satisfying and fulfilling professional career
- I saw a future of worthwhile volunteering opportunities ahead of me
Anecdotal ‘photograph driven’ summary of my recovery timeline – an exercise I undertook for the Centre for Trauma Sciences.
The following page presents a narrative of my recovery journey.