.Genesis

I knew it was the name of a rock group..Not Boyzone though.

Being in hospital is what i remember most - well i DID spend nine months there. For most of the time i shared a room with people who were in a coma. That was a bad experience for them (being in a coma), and knowing that they’d never get better. They still had visitors but the conversations were totally one-sided, as you’d expect. Then, i remember sharing with another guy who was in a coma. He was from Scotland. I used to make up stories, for my visitors, about him being a ruthless gangland leader. The stories were only fiction but at least they made him smile when he heard them. My visitors used to recoil in horror when they listened to what he had done and was capable of doing. It was quite funny to hear and always brought a smile to his face.

Next, was a room shared by four people and i was one of them. I was put next to a young guy called Sunni. He was in a coma and used to have a terrible habit of grinding his teeth when he was awake, during the day. I used to wonder why he did it. Now i know why, as i often do it myself. it’s to let other people know that you’re there.
i spent the long, hot summer of 2013 at Leamington Spa but was keen to leave there. As hospitals go, it was ok, i just wanted to get away. I felt almost institutionalised and needed to go back home, or as near to it as i could. I’d spent nine months in Leamington but It was Hinckley where i belonged. I remember the day we left the hospital. It was 9 o’clock in the morning when i was ready to go and 10 o’clock at night when i actually left.

Eventually, we got there and i had some sandwiches made for me to keep me going. I knew Mount Road and i knew Kingly House, Years ago. It wasn’t called that - it was called Kings Restaurant.
The next day i had a good look around and saw my mum and my wife. In nine months at Leamington i’d seen my mum once and my wife every Saturday. Now, i could see them everyday if i wanted to. I had a couple of friends come to visit me but the biggest difference i felt, was the way people kept staring at me. I call it The Elephant Man syndrome. The elephant man was me. Kingly House is excellent though. Definitely no elephants there.

i’ve had to make sacrifices. Out went the fags and out went the wine gums. I could put up with that. I’ve got to die sometime and i very nearly went when i had the stroke. I didn’t expect a death like that though. But looking back over life since the stroke, i have to say how valuable the experience at Leamington was. I realise that now. Everything i’ve ever been through has been for a reason.

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