I was staying with my sister in Carlisle and travelling back on the 28th of August 2025 after a wonderful week with my big sister. My connecting train had been cancelled, which put my stress levels through the roof. We spent the morning trying to sort out how I was going to get home, and by the time I arrived at Carlisle railway station, everything was in place.
The stress of the morning had given me a headache, so I took some paracetamol. Whilst on the train, it suddenly felt like I had been hit with a brick over the back of my head. By the time I got to Birmingham, I thought I was going to pass out from the pain. I took codeine, which didn’t help. I struggled to understand basic instructions from passenger assist staff. I got back to my partner’s house in Northamptonshire and took migraine tablets and ibuprofen. These didn’t help either. Despite the pain being unbearable, I had to be back home on the morning of the 29th August, so I drove home very carefully.
I contacted the pharmacist about the headache, who said I needed to see the GP urgently. I saw the GP who sent me straight to Great Western Hospital, where I was triaged within eight minutes and scanned within 30. I had a subarachnoid haemorrhage (a bleed on the brain) and was transferred to the John Radcliffe Hospital by ambulance overnight. I had a craniotomy the following lunchtime and was in the hospital for 12 days.
Prior to my brain injury, I was a volunteer motorsport official in four-wheel motorsport, which I am currently unable to do. This is heart-breaking, as motorsport is a huge part of my life and where I met my partner. I am studying for a degree with the Open University and find reading very difficult; not the ideal situation when trying to study! Thankfully, there are assistive technologies that can read my textbooks and online materials to me. I get tired very easily now and take a nap most days to get through the day. I have daily pain in my surgical scar line, which can be quite debilitating but is helped with paracetamol and rest. My mobility has decreased, and I get quite frustrated with this, as I cannot do what I want to do.
Headway has helped me feel less alone, given me a chance to laugh again with the new friends I have made, and connect with others who understand. It’s still early days at Headway, but I feel that every session I attend is hugely beneficial as I learn to navigate my new normal.
