Critical Care Ward at the Royal Stoke Hospital
The following image displays the first pages of a diary maintained by Ruth and her mother during my forty-five days in critical care. I’ve chronicled transcriptions of all the observations they recorded, which can be viewed further down this page.
Transcribed Diary Entries
Day 1 – Friday 31st July 2015
- Accident
- Air Ambulance
- Surgery
Weird: When Dave woke Friday morning he slept through three alarms. He said “I had the deepest sleep ever, and was dreaming about being in a really deep sleep.”
Day 2
Initial attempts to bring Dave around
Reacted very strongly – limbs moving, understood instructions
Re-sedated due to breathing pattern
Nurses are amazing, a top team
- Chris – miracle worker, stimulates Dave more than anyone and so caring; lovely man
- Mandy [Amanda] – got us through the first night
- Tracey – helped us through the worst day
- Lenka – Eastern European, lovely, ice packs / gloves
- Josie – deceptively good
- Simon – calm and unflappable, got us through most of first week
Day 3
Gradual reduction of sedation all week
Brought Dave close to consciousness
Me and Sue visited and he was eating well
Day 8 – 7th August 2015 (Black Friday)
Dave vomited in early hours of the morning which caused his system to free-fall
We were prepared for the worst
Dave turned on to his stomach for drugs to sedate to the right level, one of which was to give artificial paralysis
DMW: There’s a two-week gap between diary entries
DMW: My mother’s Black Friday diary entries
Day 23 – 22nd August 2015
Dave turned a corner in the night (Friday) and stabilises
Day 26
Eyes open again
Starts soon to return to full unconsciousness
Day 28
Still not very responsive
Doctor mentions locked-in syndrome
Day 30 – 29th August 2015
Ruth unable to visit for first time
Day 32
Responding at a new level
Sits out in the chair for the first time
Day 33 – 1st September 2015
Dave smiles in recognition and reacts well when I visited with mum
AW visits. Ruth speaks to sister to restrict AW. Ruth speaks to sister about AW leaving due to Dave’s state in evening. Clearly in pain.
Dave starts with urine infection
Dave is moved to new ward
Day 35
Dave starting to say a few faint words
AW visits again – Ruth steps in with his employers and the ward manager
Day 41 – 9th September 2015
Dave very lucid for first time for about 3 hours
Asking about accident
Apologising
“Knows it’s been terrible”
Day 46
Dave moves late evening to ward 228
Day 50 – 18th September 2015
Dave starting to make sense of the world and events that have happened to him
Reads from the whiteboard for the first time – location and date
Day 51
Dave obsessed with wee process!
Uses bottle in bed himself for the first time
Progress!!
Day 52
Dave convinced he went to the moon, but when asked if he’d seen Neil Armstrong: “He was there earlier than I was”
What does Ruth do for a living?: “Sorting out lots of stuff for rabbits… and recruitment”
Understatement of the year: “Ruth you are doing a fab job darling, I’m just embarrassed I’ve been a bit under the weather”
Obsessed with oranges: “When I was reading the Telegraph Ruth, is there anything in there about the orange situation”
Day 55 – 23rd September 2015
Passed swallowing assessment and started on thickened water and yoghurt
Dave pulls out feeding tube again, Ruth threatens to sit in until it’s sorted
Day 56
Physios had Dave on his feet for the first time
Ruth initiated legal action (for AW)
Day 57
Dave moves to Haywood
Fully back with us next day and raring to go
Feeding tube comes out
Puree food and thickened drinks
Day 59 – 27th September 2015
DMW: My daughter Olivia visited and saw me for the first time following my injury on this date – it was the eve of her 11th birthday. Olivia has since told me that despite all the advice given, she expected to see a person with broken limb type injuries. Seeing me with a shaved head and scars across my skull was disturbing, as well as my emaciated state – I’d lost 42lbs in weight in just 9 weeks. But she said that the most distressing aspect of the visit was our conversation, where I seemed nothing like the person she’d previously known.
My own mother’s diary during my hospitalisation period can be viewed on the following page.
Meeting Critical Care Ward Staff
The red text in this section is to distinguish it as a chronological misfit with the remainder of the page.
On the 27th August 2025, shortly after the tenth anniversary of my injury, I visited the critical care ward at the Royal Stoke hospital. I met four of the staff members which Ruth recorded in the aforementioned diary.
I’ve no recollection whatsoever of my time in the critical care ward, so it was a beautiful moment for me to be able to see and touch these staff, and express my deepest gratitude. I felt privileged to be meeting people who’d made a huge difference during the most vulnerable period of my life. Later that evening I pondered on some of our dialogue, processed how they’d all engaged with me and also how they described their passion for critical care work.
I came to the conclusion, similar to how Ruth feels, that these folk were more than extremely capable professionals. It seems right to consider each of them as special – they make a difference in people’s lives.
I feel that my NHS mantra, as witnessed on banners I fashioned around the Royal Stoke hospital grounds during the covid-19 timeframe, is perfectly apt for Amanda, Lenka, Chris and Tracey.
