My Story

In January 2025 I will be running 5km a day and going sober for the month.  I'm by no means a runner, in fact I hate it and currently can only run about 2km and I love a good glass of wine. But I've decided to challenge myself for a cause very close to mine and my families hearts, Mardon Neuro rehab centre. By donating to this charity you will be helping the wonderful care team at Mardon provide a safe space to continue to provide physical and mental rehabilitation to patients with often sever neurological conditions and injuries. If you want to know more about my why please read my story below, but know this is a very worthy cause.

Mum, Mummy, Mother, Mumma Hev, Nanny, and many other names but ultimately one woman.. Heather Prouse. Daughter, Sister, Wife, Friend and Mum to five kids plus all of their friends, she was, and thankfully still is, the backbone of my family. Mum has always welcomed anyone through her doors with open arms, always a pot of tea on the go, flapjack to be eaten or an extra place (or 5) that could be set for dinner. Up until 2022 when our lives got turned upside down.

Out of the blue Mum had a seizure and we found out that she had a rather large Tumour a.k.a Timmy (thankfully benign) that had been putting a lot of pressure on her brain, she wasn't a dizzy fart after all! Fast forward 3months it was time for surgery, we were told she'd be home in a week, the incredible surgeons at Plymouth did an amazing job and her 10-hour surgery went extremely well. But unfortunately Timmy had put a lot more pressure on mum's brain than anyone could have predicted, and being a woman in her 60s it took her longer to wake up than originally planned, the road to recovery was not going to be easy.  After almost a week in ICU and high-dependency wards mum started to come round but she was going to need to re-learn what we would consider every-day simple tasks, how to eat, drink and talk before she could consider physical rehab.

Mum spent nearly a month in hospital under the care of a wonderful group of nurses and doctors but we were then informed of a specialist Neuro-rehabilitation centre in Exeter, somewhere which was high in demand but thankfully we were able to move her to. She entered Mardon bed bound and barely able to support herself when sitting up. Mardon became a home-from-home for a further two months for mum, all the staff loved her and she loved them. The care they gave her was incredible and the mental and physical rehab she received meant that she was able to come home and continue her recovery surrounded by her family. By the time she came home mum was able to walk with the support of a walking stick and even slowly but surely tackle the stairs.

Two years on from the original surgery and mum has made incredible progress but life isn't without it's challenges. But we are all so thankful and lucky that she's here with us today and had the incredible support that she did from Mardon.