Greetings to all our supporters
I am writing this newsletter to explain about lack of
communication this year…..Many supporters of child sponsorship and schools that
have supported us, besides so many other people that make our work possible....
must be wondering what has happened because of the long silence...please allow
me to explain… especially to those of you who don’t know anything about the
situation.
I went out to The Gambia in January of this year as I
usually do and was going to come back end of April. I had many matters to attend to within the
schools that we have built and support, besides my college work. My plans changed dramatically as I had to be
flown back to England on the 19th April by air ambulance.
Ian, the main fundraiser does not use a computer, that is
solely my job and as I could not use my hands I was unable to email or give
information to anyone….hopefully you will understand as you read on.
I have been diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome which
started whilst out in The Gambia. May I hasten to add that it has nothing
whatsoever to do with being in The Gambia…it is just one of those things that can
happen anywhere, anytime. It is a rare complaint, which affects apparently only
2 in 100,000 people. It is basically a
serious condition of the peripheral nervous system but I must admit I had never
heard of it before.
I had gone to Brikama College on the Wednesday 13th
April ....the first week at college feeling that I was walking on thick sponge
but tended to ignore it, thinking it would go away. The next day I was having difficulty in
walking, so a friend Mariama Sankareh who runs a clinic in Kunkujang picked me
up in their newly donated ambulance. By
Friday I could not walk at all, my body was becoming more and more paralysed by
each day. As you can imagine it was all
very frightening, everything was happening so quickly and I had no idea why.
I spoke to Fatou Gaye the resident nurse (she is amazing)
at the clinic and said that the only thing I could think I had was motor
neurone disease. She quickly left and
came back about 2/3 hours later with a big smile on her face. “No” she said, “Its not motor neurone but
something that mimics it” The amazing thing is that she diagnosed it from a
medical book that Shine-Africa had given to her the year before. Also amazing
is how many doctors in this country fail to come up with the correct diagnosis
as quickly as Fatou did.
It is incredible how things happen….Shine-Africa had
donated some hospital mattresses the year before, I slept on one of them. The
wheelchair and the chair I sat on to have a shower had also been donated by
Shine-Africa. So I can honestly say that
all your donations DO make a difference....I know I have had firsthand
experience. The Gambian’s have a saying
“What goes around, comes around”. It
certainly did.
On the 19th April I was brought back to
England in an air ambulance in a paralysed state. Once we had landed at
Manchester airport an ambulance was ready and waiting to take me straight into
hospital. I went into intensive care for approx 2 weeks.
After a further 4
weeks there I was then transferred to North Staffs University Hospital still
very much in a paralysed state. I spent
a further 5 weeks at this hospital where I was given a further intravenous
immunoglobulin treatment to reduce the severity of the Guillian-Barre
Syndrome. Then when I was medically
stable they transferred me to the Haywood Hospital, Stoke on Trent, which has
expertise in rehabilitation. I was there
for just over 5 weeks.
I have had to learn to walk again….harder than in sounds,
as I still don’t have much feeling in my feet and legs, although for 6 weeks I
did not even know if anyone touched them, so progress is being made. I celebrate each achievement with joy and
gratefulness and I truly mean that….I really feel that
I have had a 2nd chance of life and I will certainly not waste it.
All that most of us take for granted was stripped away
from me, I could not even feed, toilet or wash myself. I was totally dependent
on other people for all my needs.
I really do look at the world in a very different way
now. I realise just how lucky I have
been and at least I have the knowledge that I will hopefully make a full
recovery.
I have had much time to reflect upon life realising just
how important it is to enjoy each and every day. Life is a constant learning
experience whereby every day provides us with opportunities to learn so much more.
Even in sickness there is a lot to learn. It gave me the
opportunity to realise the people that really do care and those who do
not.
It made me realise just how vulnerable a person is lying
in a hospital bed being dependent upon the nursing staff to give them support
and help. It certainly has made me look at the world so differently making me a
much stronger person... who in the famous words of the terminator is saying “I
WILL be back”.
I am determined that I shall be back in The Gambia by
early next year. I want to be there as a
group of people (mostly friends) are driving with vehicles overland to The
Gambia filled with educational and medical equipment. Once there they will leave the vehicles with
me for the charity. I want to be there to meet them at the end of their journey
to greet them when they arrive.
That is one of my goals and that is what keeps me going throughout
every day. That is my dream and aspiration, giving me something to work towards…
If you would like to know more please look them up at:
www.therainbowrun.org.uk or look at our website at
www.shineafricathegambia.org or Facebook..... Shineafrica Thegambia
Our sites are all interlinked as we are working under the
same umbrella. Also you can email me at glynndax@yahoo.co.uk
A picture of me laying on the runway at Banjul airport
with Fatou the nurse looking on. I was
taken to the airport in an ambulance that had been donated to Kunkujang clinic
only a few weeks earlier by the June and Brian Cox Foundation.
Thank you for all the care I received at the hospitals I
stayed in...I met some very special people that have made a big difference to
my life and will never be forgotten.
Special thanks go to Ward 1 of the North Staffs
University Hospital, everyone without exception were truly wonderful...everyone
worked as a team and showed they really cared. Also to the Haywood
Rehabilitation who were also wonderful and caring.
Would also like to thank all the many people that sent
get well wishes and for my visitors that gave up their precious time to come
and visit and for the people that made
enquiries about my state of health...for all the care and support that we
had...and for the many prayers that were offered. It is truly valued and appreciated.
You are all making the long journey to recovery much
easier for me........
2009 Report and New faces in The Gambia