I returned to the hospital from home, Thursday, 23rd, to collect Steven to take him home for the first time, just happening to coincide with his birthday on 25th. WE had a good journey except for the last 5kms of a 200kms journey when he felt motion sickness, not surprising really, being so long without going for long journeys. It was emotional for him to see the house. He walked from the car to the house, and walked around the house in relative comfort, using as many handholds as he could. We had a very full weekend of activities. Briefly:- people jumping over fires on the local beaches; grand firework display accompanied by music; stroll around town; proper haircut for the first time for 8months; hugs and kisses from people coming out of shops when they saw him; meal at his favourite restaurant, and where he used to work, meeting many staff from that and other nearby restaurants, many of them moved to tears; meeting of friends, one who had seen him in his coma, at yet another restaurant; a full chill-out day for his birthday receiving messages from friends; barbecue at a friend’s house, who had also seen him in the early days; 10metre tracker firework; visit to Sacko’s bar for a mini-party, well wishers, music, 20metre tracker firework, cake in the shape of crash test dummies; visit at home from Eddie and Alex from FCTF fan club, bringing with them monies collected from many sources; visit to Los Frutales Sports bar for Steven to meet up with many of his friends, many who had seen him in the coma stage, another 10metre tracker firework; visit to the last bar he worked in, Legends, again to see colleagues who saw him in his coma; dip in the pool at home; visit by a friend who had a similar accident several years ago and who was told he’d never walk again, well he did, and he’s an inspiration to Steven; then the long drive back to the hospital which was interrupted by a traffic jam for an earlier accident.
The whole weekend was brilliant in all respects. Except for Steven feeling a little overwhelmed by the crowds at the fireworks on the beach, he coped admirably with everything. He only used his wheelchair for short periods, mainly doing his best to walk just holding hands. Thank you to all his friends for making him feel comfortable and welcome. At times it was very emotional for all concerned, after all, it was last November when I was ‘phoning family and friends to say we were going to lose Steven, and we didn’t expect to celebrate this birthday, but he’s proved that with a lot of care and determination, he’s going to recover fully.
Steven and us must give our thanks to everyone from this site and from the FCTF for the monies collected. I have told him every message, card, and gift, received of support for him from everyone. It makes us marvel that such wonderful people are out there caring for someone who in many respects is a total stranger. But these people are no longer strangers but friends. Steven and us can only offer our grateful thanks. Steven will use the monies to buy a television for his bedroom, and a good quality laptop case. Both will help in his recuperation. Once again THANK YOU.
From Monday, Steven was a little depressed, probably thinking of the weekend. He knows he’s in the best place, and hopefully the weeks will seem shorter now, because we are going to try to go home more often.
Best regards Terry
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