Help Hannah's Future!

Hello! Hannah was a great friend of mine at school, from year 1 through to Sixth-form, and it didn't stop there! To help Hannah's family raise enough money to support her moving into her home, I will be running/hiking a marathon (26 miles) up, down and around the Malvern Hills. Many of you on my social media will already know Hannah and her story but for those of you who don't please give the following a read!

In 2020 our wonderful, healthy and happy Hannah got married to her university love, Rob. They settled into their flat together and started their married life in Bath. Hannah was a first-class Chemical Engineering graduate, a huge dreamer and go-getter and was so excited for her future with her new husband.

On the 10th of January 2021, Hannah woke up in the early hours of the morning with an awful headache. This was the result of a brain bleed caused by an AVM, an abnormal growth of blood vessels in Hannah’s brain. With no previous medical history, this was a complete shock. This caused a catastrophic brain injury which led to a deep coma and the beginning of an absolutely life-shattering nightmare for Rob and our family.

Doctors gave a grave report and suspected just a few days of survival or else remaining in a vegetative state. We are a Christian family and Hannah herself is a strong believer in Jesus and the hope that his name brings to the darkest of situations. In desperation, we started praying and invited others to do so with us calling out for a miracle for her life.

We were beyond relieved that Hannah miraculously survived the brain bleed and then the 8-hour brain surgery the doctors were uncertain she would make it through. However, a few days in as we began to prepare to say our potential heart-shattering goodbye, Hannah initiated one breath. This was enough for the doctors to turn from end-of-life tests and give us time to see how she would recover and her life support was continued.

However, she remained deep in a coma for about 7 months. Hannah began to wake up around the end of summer last year. Her life has been drastically altered by the injury. Her eyes were especially affected and she has been unable to fully open them due to nerve damage. She lost all her core strength and faced the reality of having to re-learn everything again - starting with breathing. One thing we are beyond grateful for is Hannah, despite the dire diagnosis of never having any kind of brain function again, has retained all her memories and cognition. She is still incredibly bright and as sassy as ever. However, that brilliant mind is trapped in a body that does not respond in any way how it used to.

She has begun the long and difficult journey of recovery and she is currently residing in a care home. With the work of incredible physios and therapists along the journey, Hannahs's strength has begun to slowly return and we are beginning to see more improvements. Hannah is now eating soft foods three times a day. After having a tracheostomy for 9 months this is a huge breakthrough and gives us hope for all the other barriers she will overcome. We have seen her begin standing, sitting, and talking and her relationship with Rob is something that she clings to. Their marriage is a precious treasure that we have had the privilege of surrounding as a family.

This year, Rob has bought a small bungalow close to our parent's house, where the plan is to move Hannah in as soon as possible to give her the best and healthiest recovery journey. Hannah is desperate to live with Rob as husband and wife, so it breaks her heart to have him leave at night. However, to discharge Hannah from the care home, the bungalow must undergo massive renovation projects to make it suitable for her current disabilities. Much equipment, supplements and a rear extension need to be considered to give her the best quality of home life. We are also looking into potential international high-quality facilities that could quicken Hannah's recovery with intensive physio and other therapies. However, this will need vast amounts of funding.

We would love to take the financial strain off of Rob. After not being able to work full time for the past two years, he has adapted to caring for Hannah whilst being an incredible husband and also carrying an unthinkable and immense amount of grief that no early twenty-year-old should have to hold.

Please consider investing in their future together as a married couple. We try to keep Hannah remaining hopeful by getting her to make goals for her future and her highest priority is to live with Rob again. We do so greatly want to make this happen. As a family, we are grieving the Hannah we lost last year however, we remain hopeful for the miracles to come as we have seen Hannah already overcome some crazy mountains of uncertainty and difficulties. She is an incredible young woman, her determination and bravery in this time have changed all our lives. We believe that God still has an amazing future for Hannah and Rob and we look forward to the recovery to come.

Thea young and her family will be the beneficiary of the fundraiser therefore, they will be withdrawing the funds raised. The money will be used to support the refurbishments needed to get Hannah home.