A dad has gone to unbelievable lengths to survive against all the odds.
James Gilbert, 32, from Warrington was working from home when he began to feel sick on Thursday, April 21. After throwing up, he called 999 but unable to speak he put the phone down.
Unbeknownst to James an extra artery in his head which had been unidentified since birth had burst causing a brain hemorrhage. Alone, James managed to drag himself down the stairs and into the street looking for anybody who could help him.
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Luckily his neighbour saw him lying on the road and James was rushed to Whiston Hospital. His mum Sue said James is the "backbone of the family" and a "real fighter".
Speaking to the ECHO she said: "Most people would go to bed if they felt sick and had a headache but because he crawled out of that house, it must have taken so much effort, just shows what a fighter he is."
James was then placed in an induced coma and taken to the Walton Centre. Through chest infections, a stem being fitted, and an infection on his brain doctors were unsure if he would survive.
Then one day against all the odds James woke up, his mum said: "He could not talk, he was communicating with us using a buzzer that he would press with his big toe. We are taking baby steps each day and he has started talking now, he can be hard to understand but they are massive strides."
James a dad-of-two is a mortgage manager and met his wife Claire while working in a bank. Sue said James in the "best dad in the whole world" and his youngest daughter Maddison "followed him everywhere he went".
Sue said: "Because he has been wired up to machines and not been able to talk it has had a really big effect on the little one but she has slowly started to come round to the situation.
"He still tries to make her smile even though he can't talk very well. Even now he is still an amazing dad."
James's road to recovery is still a long one but he now has movement in his left arm and the feeling has started to come back to his right leg. Sue, who is 57, said: "He is just an amazing young man, he walks into a room and it just gets brighter, in a second he would be laughing and joking with you. Everyone loves him.
"James has been recovering in his own way and not the textbooks way. We gave him time and he has slowly come round and we are all blown away with him."
James' family is now raising money for a Hocoma Erigo machine that helps critical care patients to make the transition from spending lengthy periods immobile to sitting and standing. For anyone who would like to donate to James's page more information can be found here.
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