THE wife of a firefighter who suffered a stroke when a neck-hold in a martial arts class went wrong has spoken of the trauma of the past year – and of her gratitude to family and his colleagues for their support.
Angela Dos Santos, 33, was four months pregnant when her husband Mark was taken to hospital after collapsing at a martial arts class he was teaching in Maldon last April.
The 37-year-old suffered a major stroke as a result of a blood clot and underwent two bouts of emergency brain surgery before suffering a cardiac arrest and surviving pneumonia. He was left unable to walk or talk.
And now, with the arrival of four-month-old baby Meadow, Mark has been allowed to return home from his rehabilitation unit in Harrow, in North West London, to spend time with his baby daughter and three-year-old son Mason at the weekends.
"It's been pretty full on – life just never stops," said Angela.
"Tiny babies are hard work anyway but she made a relatively easy entrance into the world and she was born at Northwich Park Hospital, which allowed Mark to be there, which was brilliant.
"The nurses were amazing – they looked after me and they looked after Mark as well."
Mark's current treatment means that he undergoes intense neurotherapy five days a week and is only allowed home at weekends.
"He's still not able to walk and he still has co-ordination issues so doing things we all take for granted are difficult," said Angela. "But he can speak again – his tracheotomy came out in August.
"The process is really, really slow, but he wants to get his life back. More than anything he wants to be a dad again."
Much to the couple's delight, Mark can now hold his baby daughter and he can speak to her, but is still unable to be the hands-on dad he desperately wants to be.
"Christmas was really nice because it could have been so much worse – Mark could have died," said Angela. "But it was still hard because there are so many things he wants to do.
"Over time things will get better but we have a huge fight ahead."
One thing that has made the past few months all the more bearable is the support Angela and Mark have received from his colleagues at Brentwood Fire Station, who have held fundraising events since he fell ill.
"The fire service has continued to be absolutely brilliant," said Angela. "They have continued to raise money for his rehabilitation and, from an HR point of view, they have continued to pay him."
This is something that has made a real difference to the family while Angela is on maternity leave. And not only that but when she was pregnant with Meadow, Mark's colleagues from Blue Watch moved the young family from their home of 11 years in Rivenhall to their new home in Great Totham.
"We were about to exchange keys the week before Mark's accident and we moved while he was in intensive care, but it was the fire service who practically moved us," said Angela.
"They put a team of people together and they had all of the vehicles. By the time I got back from the hospital we had moved house. It was like something out of 60 Minute Makeover!"
Mark has now been discharged from the hospital, which specialises in the rehabilitation of young stroke victims, but the local Primary Care Trust has agreed to continue to fund Mark's neuro rehabilitation for another three months – the location of which the couple will find out this week.
"My concern is that if he came home it's not a relaxing home," said Angela.
"There are two small children who cry and have tantrums and I don't want him to take any steps backwards."
With the future looking brighter, Angela and Mark are hoping for a much happier 2013.
"I was really glad to say goodbye to 2012," continued Angela. "I have no doubt that there will be hard times ahead but it's not going to be anywhere near as horrendous as last year."
