00:00Imagine suffering a life-changing stroke that leaves you unable to move a muscle,
00:05all while being fully conscious and aware of your surroundings.
00:09This is what happened to Jeff in 2019 when a stroke left him with locked-in syndrome,
00:15only able to move his eyes. Jeff and I met in 2010 and we married in 2016.
00:21In 2019, Jeff had a very unexpected sudden brain stem stroke. He collapsed while he was at his yard.
00:32He was airlifted to King's where they discovered a day or so later that he had a brain stem stroke
00:41and the damage was bad. Now, there's a common misconception around those with locked-in
00:47syndrome that they'll be like that for life. But change is possible as Jeff and many others are
00:52living proof of. Jeff's family and his carers both believe Jeff could be able to get his voice back.
01:00Before his life changed, Jeff was an avid motorcycle fan and the fight to get back on his bike one day
01:07continues. Ever since working here and working with Jeff, every week there's something else that Jeff
01:14manages to achieve. He, you know, his levels of trying to progress and progress and progress,
01:22just get more and more each time. He doesn't want to just do little movements, there's bigger movements
01:28and, you know, the same with his voice, his legs and yeah, as I say, I was quite naive coming in at first
01:34but as you see Jeff doing so well and progressing, he just wants it more and more and so do you.
01:44In 2020, his family raised money to fund a specialist physiotherapy bank for him and now,
01:50Jeff is embarking on the final push to speak again for the first time in six years.
01:56We can access more rehabilitation for him to be able to really push him and get him where he needs to be.
02:05I feel if he could have intense therapy every single day or at least three, four times a week,
02:12he can really push himself to where he can actually get back on those motorbikes and can actually,
02:17he's got a life now, just not the life that he wants or wishes for.
02:24But with so much uncertainty, how does the family stay positive?
02:29So if we forget to keep his head straight or if we don't pay attention in time, we get fines now.
02:34Two pounds a pound?
02:36Two pounds a pound.
02:37Through humour and remembering they have each other.
02:40Megan Shaw for Kame TV in Deal.
Comments