I started at “ARNI” in July 2004 twelve months after my stroke I had a bleed on the left hand side of my brain which left me paralysed down the right hand side of my body.
I left Farnham Re-hab in August 2003 in a very poor state of mobility, I could only walk 10 paces and my arm was floppy. I lost all of my self-confidence and found life very strange outside of hospital. However I wasn’t prepared to accept the status quo and battled back with no help from physio and occupational therapist departments in the first seven months.
In May 2004 I got help from the Occupational Therapy Department, which was superb.
I met Dave Waters of ARNI in the July 2004,within two weeks I gave up my walking stick and Dave concentrated on my walking and mobility. Slowly but surely I improved my walking, my mobility and my all round fitness. The most important thing was the trust and faith I had in Dave and over the past eight months I have become a good friend and I really have a lot to thank Dave for.
Even though Dave is not a Physiotherapist or a doctor, he has an incredible ability to break everything down and get you to walk correctly and has a great understanding of how the mind and body are interlinked and how you can train the brain to send the correct messages to your damaged side.
Eight months on I have gone from a person who had a walking stick, poor mobility and a low self esteem; to a man with pride who can walk four miles, very mobile, performs most things that everyone does on a daily basis.
The most amazing thing is with Dave’s help I can now run 800 yards with one stop. My ambition is to run one mile by July. I start Martial Arts on Thursday 10th March, which I am looking forward to.
I would recommend ARNI to anyone who has brain injury, my money was well spent and my quality of life is so much better.
MORE FROM JEFF:
November 2004, I have been with Dave at Arni for five months now and have made great progress,my mobility has improved and my walking is getting better but their is a long way to go.
December 2004, I am concentrating on improving my mobility by focusing on exercises that loosen and stretch my body from head to toe it is hard work and the improvement is gradual,like putting bricks in a wall.
January 2005, a new year and new goals to achieve,all people who have had a stroke know that the improvement is gradual and at times you hit a plateaux and you feel that you cannot make any more progress.Well I feel very confident about my ability to conquer the paralysis and improve my mobility so that is close to normal.My work with Dave has concentrated on my mobility and I have started to run in the gym things are looking up.
February 2005, I am feeling good and my hard work continues, my running is improving and my mobility continues get better, the exercises are intense but so good for my body. Dave is is so good and I feel good working with him.
Jeffrey Shaw
Jeff is still training with us and doing very well in terms of return of isolation movement (Dave – Sept 2005)
