Hi folks

My name is Gary Howell and around 30 years ago I met my mate Mikey at the Aldridge Rotaract club. We were both sporty and sociable and hit it off straight away. We were soon appointed Sports and Social representatives and organized lots of events and raised lots money for charity along the way.

We were out one night at a 'planning meeting' and we bumped into a girl I used to go to school called Jill. Mike and Jill quite liked each other and a while later were married, and have produced two great kids called Dan and Emily. I am Emily's godfather. Apparently it's all my fault!

Mike and I both worked in Financial Services and eventually ended up working for the same organisation, after he recommended me to the company. We spent 16 years working together and continued to play golf, squash, watch football and be involved with each others families. Mike also played cricket to a high standard and has coached many youngsters and given lot's back to the sport.

Now the bad news - In September of 2017 Mike was at a conference  and away from home when he suffered a catastrophic stroke. No one knows how long Mike had been on the floor of his hotel room. He could not be administered the anti clotting drugs that are usually given within the golden hour after something like this happens. It was touch and go for a couple of weeks and the family were preparing for the worst. Thankfully Mike pulled through and spent the next 4 months in hospital where he had to learn the most basic of things like learning to swallow. He was told that he would never walk or talk again due to the trauma and injury to his brain. How devastating!

Mike eventually came home in early January 2018 and began an intensive regime of physiotherapy and speech therapy and started to respond to treatment. He's always been a determined and quite stubborn bugger!! Slowly but surely he has proved doctors wrong and now has some speech back and is able to stand and walk very slowly. His right arm and leg do not work so he has had to adapt and learn to cope without them using some special equipment and lots of concentration. He has a scooter that allows him to go out of the house.

One of his sporting passions is Wolverhampton Wanderers (well someone has to) and he has passed this on to his son Dan. With this in mind I want to raise some money to take them both to a game and organize a day that they will both remember. A corporate day with food and Q&A's with players of both today and the past.

I have been in touch with Wolves and they are happy to help us but it's not cheap, even though heavily discounted. I'd like to give my mate Mikey a day to remember for the rest of his life and do something special for him and his family.

Any donations will be very much appreciated and will go towards his day out. If I manage to raise more than the target amount I would like to provide a day out for the girls in Mike's life...Jill and Emily! I'm thinking a Spa Day on the day we go to the football. They can relax and have some mother and daughter time.

Mike has a very long road ahead of him but I know with his determination and spirit he will get there. My dream is to play golf with him when we are greyer and older!! He will need lots more treatment and physiotherapy to help him. Unfortunately the treatment from the NHS comes to an end in early February and then he will have to go for private sessions, which you can imagine is not cheap! So in addition to the football and Spa day, I'm hoping to raise some extra money to pay for some physiotherapy sessions for Mike.

Many thanks in advance for reading this. Any donations however small will be fantastic and will help make some fabulous memories for Mike and his family.

 Thanks again.

Gary (Mike's the one on the right!)