All Survivor Stories

My name is Veronica, this is my story. I was diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation (AVM) at the age of twelve. I was born with it, and I never had any symptoms before my arteries ruptured in my brain.

Back on May 31, 2009, at 31 years of age, an aneurysm ruptured in the right frontal lobe of my brain. When people hear that, their first response is almost always, "Wow, that's terrible." However, I quickly talk about how it was, far and away, the best thing that's ever happened to me.

In 2005, as a serving soldier in the British Army, I was on a training exercise in the jungles of Belize. Whilst cutting our way through a dense part of the jungle, everyone heard an almighty crack and a crashing sound as something extremely heavy fell through the leaves above...

In 2011 I was young (35), very fit, healthy, happy and planning to get married the following year in June 2012. In January 2012, I went into King’s College Hospital for a foramen magnum decompression to treat Chiari malformation (brain surgery No. 1). I was told it would involve 1-2 weeks in the hospital and another 2 weeks at home to recover. I thought, “Easy!” Little did I know that this is when my nightmare would begin.

I suffered my brain injury not long after I was born. I was born 11 weeks prematurely and due to a traumatic birth, shortly after I suffered a bleed on the brain. It is said that bleeds on the brain and stroke are the leading causes of disability and in my case, this is what happened...

My name is Mel. I have been a paramedic for over thirteen years in Brisbane, Australia. In 2019, I had just returned home from a sporting event and holiday in France and Italy when I started to feel unwell...

At the end of the day, I survived all this which is incredible and I am so happy I can still hug my wife and daughters and make them happy because their happiness is the most important to me.  

I first shared my story in April 2019, while at the start of my recovery. Now, I am two years into my journey and have made great improvements, all thanks to the amazing rehabilitation support I got from all the NHS services during my stay in hospital and also in the community after discharge.

In February 2022, I developed a sudden onset double vision. I've always worn glasses and put this down to not having had an eye test since before the COVID-19 pandemic...