johnty20 wrote:I am John's sister. He registered on this site on the morning of the day he collapsed whilst he was out on a run.
John had an AVM, which stands for 'an Arterio-Venous Malformation'. Which is basically an abnormal collection of blood vessels in his brain. He was born with this condition and was completely unaware of it.
I thought I would post a reply on this forum on behalf of John. The response that John has had from this forum and 'the once a marine, always a marine' forum has been amazing. I just wanted to thank you all for all your messages. I hope one day that John will be able to log onto this site and thank you himself.
Good luck with all your training and congratulations for getting into the Marines.
Gemma
Gemma
Good to hear from you in what must be a stressful time. I'd like to wish for you brother's speedy recovery, as I am sure the whole of MFAT do.
Apologies on my previous mix up, I hope that John is able to speak to us all soon, Im sure his determination will pull him through, and he'll come out stronger.
Best wishes
Recruit Tests - Passed
Interview - Passed
-- Injured --
2nd Interview - Passed
Medical - Passed
PJFT - 9.39 Passed
RMAD - 20th November
PRMC - 4th December
would it not be a good idea to make this sticky, so that if/when he is able to get back on MFAT, he can read it. If not, the thread will disappear - and we dont want that to happen. It also allows people to continue adding their comments.
He has made a lot of progress in the last week or so. He's smiling, laughing, certainly recognising people. His left side is still quite strong, he can now beat me at a game of thumb war and pretty much still beat me at at arm wrestle!
The nurses have had him out in a wheelchair and wheeled him round the ward! Think he was disappointed by the lack of talent! He is flirting with the nurses though!
He has also had his tracky out which is great news, cause now he is completely breathing by himself. They nurses have also started to give him a few tablespoons of strawberry mousse to get his swallowing reflexes back working. At the moment he is making progress with that, so hopefully we will be able to start feeding him up, as he has lost so much weight. All that muscle that he built up for when he was going to start the marines!
Things are defo beginning to look more hopeful.
P.S. How do we go about making this discussion 'sticky', as one of you mentioned?
It has been quite a while since I updated you all with John's progress.
John has moved on quite dramatically in the last 2 weeks. 2 weeks ago he started walking with a stick, they have now taken his electric wheelchair away from him and he has to walk everywhere. In many respects he doesn't even need his stick anymore- think this will be gone in the next week or so. He is also now walking up steps and this weekend he managed to get up to the 2nd floor of our house to his bedroom- the first time he has seen it in 6 months! There doesn't appear to be no stopping him at the mo - he's so determined and focused to get his walking up to speed and get fit again.
His memory has improved a lot and his speech is improving slowly but surely. His right arm is still very weak and hasn't made too much improvement, but this week he has started to gain more control of it and get his shoulder muscles to work.
He has six weeks left at the rehab centre and then he will be coming home, where his home rehabilitation will continue. John has many hard months ahead of him, but is continuing to fight and work hard and the improvement he is making is just fantastic.
www.MilitaryBootsUK.co.uk - Latest offers and best deals on Military, Combat, Army, Police, Emergency, Safety and Waterproof Boots. www.SteelToeCapBoots.co.uk - Latest offers and best deals on trending Footwear, Workwear, Steel Toe, Waterproof Safety Boots.
