As you may know, on Thursday 7th November, my sister’s world shattered. Her husband and Teddie’s Daddy Ryan Thomas, the hugely popular and well respected Team Manager of Pontypool Rugby, was rushed to hospital with a suspected heart attack. Devastatingly, this led to a cardiac arrest and for an hour, doctors fought tirelessly using every line of treatment possible to bring him back. Even though they managed to stabilise Ryan the prognosis was extremely bleak. A few days later, Ryan suffered a second heart attack, and a CT scan revealed that, during the cardiac arrest, he also had a stroke.

The coming weeks were filled with huge uncertainty, and the outlook was incredibly bleak — doctors were unsure if Ryan would ever wake up and if he did, they warned that his quality of life would likely be very limited. The consultants found themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place, they needed to treat Ryan’s condition but due to its complexities, it came with huge risks and with this came a rollercoaster of hope and despair, with moments of progress followed by devastating setbacks.

We endured one heartbreaking update after another as the consultants delivered blow after blow, but eventually through sheer strength and determination, Ryan has achieved what many thought was impossible. Ryan has defied the odds and survived the unsurvivable. While he has made it this far, his recovery is far from over. The stroke has left him with left-sided weakness, and he now requires extensive rehabilitation to regain his strength and independence. Ryan is a fighter who truly deserves the best treatment, and we are determined to raise as much money as possible to contribute to additional top-tier rehab and home adaptations to enable him to come home to Tors and Teddie as quickly as possible. Any contribution, no matter the size, will go directly towards supporting Ryan on this challenging journey towards recovery. Thank you in advance for your support during this difficult time.