Southsea man, 23, had to learn to walk again after suffering stroke on day of Victorious Festival

Reece Peacham had just returned home from working as a warehouse assistant for Amazon in August last year and was complaining of a headache.

The next thing he remembers is waking up in hospital with a tube down his throat following surgery to remove a blood clot from his brain.

Reece said: ‘I had been suffering from an excruciating headache all day – worse than any hangover I had ever had. When I arrived home from work following the end of my shift, my head felt no better.

‘I am unsure of what happened after that, but I am told that my housemate, Vera, was the first person to find me. I had been tidying my room and she had heard the bang as I had hit the floor and came running up the stairs.’

An ambulance crew that was helping at Victorious Festival attended to help before they called for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance Critical Care Team (HIOWAA).

The team placed Reece into an induced coma and took him by road to University Hospital Southampton, where they had the specialist equipment to carry out a mechanical thrombectomy - a procedure to remove the blood clot his brain.

Reece said: I woke up two days later, post-surgery, with a tube down my throat and limited movement of my limbs.

‘I was moved out of the Intensive Care Unit and recovered in the hospital’s stroke ward. I had just one focus: to get better. My housemate, Vera, was going back to Portugal as she was only here on a gap year.

‘Not only did I not want her last memory of me to be in a hospital bed, I also wanted to thank her properly for what she did, so I knew I had to be out of hospital by then, no matter how unrealistic that was.’

Reece was transferred to Queen Alexandra Hospital for rehabilitation and was signed off to go home just in time to see Vera the day she flew back to Portugal.

He said: ‘Initially my balance and mobility had improved, but my brain had forgotten how to walk.

‘After a few weeks of treatment from Portsmouth Stroke Association, I was walking normally again.’

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In January this year Reece and his mum Kim visited the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance Critical Care Team, at their airbase in Thruxton, to thank them for saving his life and encourage people to donate to the charity so they can carry on saving lives.

Reece said: ‘It was incredible to meet the team responsible for saving my life. I honestly can’t speak highly enough of them and the service they provide. They are incredible at their job and truly some of the most amazing people I have met.

‘I try not to let what happened dictate who I am as a person, although I now treat my body with a lot more respect than before. Having been given a second chance at life I want to make the most out of it and be the very best worker, friend and person I can be.’

HIOWAA chief executive Alex Lochrane, said: ‘The quicker we get to our patients, the more their chances of survival and recovery increase: it’s as simple as that.

‘As we all face the turmoil of another lockdown our Critical Care Teams are ready, as always, to be there in people’s darkest moment of need. Without the support of all our communities, however, we just could not do what we do, and now: we need it more than ever.’

To donate visit hiowaa.org/donate/

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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