Lewis – An ordinary inspiration. Facing the Facts...

I met Lewis a month or so ago.  His quiet inspiration astonished me - no frills; Just absolute bloody-mindedness to overcome the facts.  I was asking a group bout what facts they face in their day.  They talked about traffic, early mornings, the weather etc etc etc etc……  Lewis came to me in the break.  He told me about a few facts he had faced.   Here is how he told me.  Be inspired.

"My story begins from the age of 11, when – on suffering from a constant high temperature - I was rushed to hospital where they removed my appendix. They assumed that was the problem but were wrong.  My mother was with me when I stopped breathing on the ward.  My heart stopped and I had to be revived by the staff.  I was unconscious for so long that my brain was starved of oxygen and left me in intensive care in a comatose state with severe damage to the brain. 

I spent a whole year in the infirmary.  I had to relearn all basic motor skills just like a young infant. I had to go through schooling and relearn basic maths and English skills and worst of all was the intense Physiotherapy.  When I stood up for the first time in one year the pain was unimaginable and two floors of the hospital heard my screams.

I was then transferred to a private hospital.  This sounds great but I was separated from all friends and family so that I could purely concentrate on my recovery, which was very difficult.  Once I was there I had to undergo further occupational and physiotherapy, speech therapy and more schooling, I had to learn how to use a wheelchair and crutches to walk.  I had to use two bars in which to support my weight and after some time I used my physio for support.

When I was there it felt more like a prison at times due to the strictness and set rules.  However, it was a beautiful building with beautiful grounds, I learnt how to cook and prepare meals and drinks and we went on day and evening trips in order to build our social skills.  I spent the best part of a year there.

The rebuilding process has continued over the years.  Now I am an undergraduate at University.  They said I would never walk or talk again. 

Here I am; I walked in here to tell you this story."