Funding to aid rehabilitation from a severe stroke

Hi our names are Kirsty, Mitzi and Julie and we are raising funds for adaptions to the house and if funds left over to purchase a spa/hot tub for our amazing friend Sam for rehabilitation.

On March 2nd this year Sam suffered a massive stroke with devasting results just a month after her 54th birthday. It was on the righthand side of her brain affecting the left hand side of her body. She had led a healthy life and there had been no warnings or any health issues. On the day of her stroke, she was in town getting supplies for one of our infamous girly get togethers.

Fortunately, Sam was quickly taken to the Great Western Hospital in Swindon where she received immediate treatment to give her a fighting chance of surviving. However, her brain swelled up so much she had to go to Oxford for a craniotomy. It was a risky operation with no guarantees but to everyone’s relief she pulled through and could communicate by squeezing your hand.

Now Sam is a fighter and that wasn’t good enough for her and after a month she managed to open her eyes and start speaking and her motivation to carry on fighting was to get back to her normal self and be home for Christmas.

Since March 2024, Sam has had to cope with a lot of setbacks. She has had to deal with blood clots on her lungs, various chest infections, a further bleed on the brain, having to go back on the feeding tube, being told that her cranioplasty would not be until at least November, 9 months after her craniotomy! As you can imagine, this has had a major psychological effect on her.

However, all the setbacks have not stopped her and just recently she managed to move her left leg side to side admittedly with great effort and determined to get out of the sling for manoeuvring from her bed to the wheelchair she has managed to use a special frame to pull herself up to a standing position. The physiotherapists have been so proud of her determination that they have even started the slow process of getting her to be able to walk. Unfortunately, her left arm, or as she has affectionately named it as “Sid the Snake” remains very much asleep. She has just been transferred back to Oxford Hospital for extensive physiotherapy.

One of her loves is her garden, her family, neighbours and friends have managed to get together to sort the garden out so it will be more wheelchair accessible and friendly for her to come home to. So, with that in mind, we have set up this Go Fund me page to help with adaptations around the house to enable her to come home and if any funds left over to purchase a hot tub/spa so that when she comes home, we can carry on with her daily physiotherapy with a community therapist and we have been told the hot tub will help with:-

1/ Relaxing and easing her muscles.

2/ Improve her blood circulation/flow.

3/ Help with her blood pressure.

4/ Help with her for pain relief.

5/ Promotes sleep.

The hope with all the work that her friends, neighbours and family are doing, this will mean she can come home to an adapted house and go out in her beloved garden and have some relaxing water rehabilitation time. This would be the finishing touch for her.

All donations are gratefully received.

If you would like to know a bit more about our amazing friend please read on.

Sam from a young age has helped care for her family nursing her parents through their various illnesses and their passing, caring for her brother whilst he battled his illness through to the sad end. She also helped care for her in-laws and whilst doing this she has raised a loving family.

Sam, is an incredibly special lady and if you are fortunate enough to be in her “circle of trust” you know you have one of the best people in your life.

Sam’s family is her pride and joy. She got together with her husband at the young age of 17 and they have been married for 33 years loving each other every day. Her children are the apple of her eye and they adore her right back. Her granddaughter has been the cherry on the top of her beautiful cake.