From Burgos to Bedroom Floor and Back Again

In May 2014, my partner and I, with two friends, embarked on a three-week walking holiday aiming to complete several stages of El Camino - a long distance pilgrimage walk from the south of France to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain, crossing the Pyrenees on the way. We walked from St-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Burgos covering 12-15 miles every day as one of several adventures to mark my 60th year. One day after returning home to Essex I woke up on my bedroom floor, unable to feel or move my left arm or leg and unable to get up and with no memory or idea of how I'd got there. After several hours of lying on the floor, friends came and discovered me and called an ambulance. I was taken to hospital where I was told I'd had a stroke caused by a small blood clot which blocked my middle cerebral artery and cut off the oxygen supply to the right side of my brain. I was admitted and spent four months in hospital to make a start on what has proved to be a marathon rehabilitation process, which continued after I returned home in a wheelchair, as a shadow of the woman I'd been prior to the stroke. This book is the story of my recovery and rehabilitation from a devastating brain injury and describes how I have used challenges and goals to constantly push myself forward and to very gradually reclaim some control over my life and to move from feeling like a useless burden on my nearest and dearest to feeling happy that my life is worthwhile and a positive contribution to society.