Lou's road to recovery

Our beautiful girl Lou, wife to Col, mother of three and my dear friend, at just 45 years old, suffered a catastrophic stroke in November 2023 . This was completely unexpected and has turned her and her families world upside down. Lou fought for her life and won, but has been left with life changing challenges. Her determination, courage and bravery has seen her contiune to fight so incredibly hard. She is learning to walk and talk again. Painfully and slowly yet with supreme effort she is clawing back her independence day by day. This journey has not been easy but after months in rehabilitation Lou is now considered medically fit to come home. But this is the beginning of a next chapter full of continuing and new challenges and more mountains to climb.

There are so many unknowns and until Lou gets home it’s a challenge to know exactly what aids and adaptations she will need. What we do know is that she will need contiuned support with speech, physio, sight and her mobility. She will have ongoing treatment from the NHS to enable her to have the best chance to reach her full potential in her recovery. But she will need so much more.

Lou has been my friend, my wing man, my beautiful girl for almost 20 years. Along with many of her friends I have felt useless during this time, unable to do anything other than being in her and Cols corner. When my son was ill and needed life saving surgery, Lou was there ready to help me. So now it’s my turn to fight for her. I know better than most that life can change in a heartbeat and everything you knew as your world is taken away. So this is now a time to start to support Col and the family to meet Lou’s needs as she starts on the next chapter of her recovery. It’s going to a long road and this is the start of a new life for Lou. It’s going to be different, the financial impact is significant , but with our support we can make this transition just a tiny bit easier.

When Lou first became sick a quote has stuck with me.

Lou is the bravest, most determined and beautiful soul that I have the privilege to call my friend. Please support us to make her next step in this journey as easy as it can be.

Cathryn xx