Today's post from Annie...tho I think I'm just posting for missen here?
Good evening friends,
As always I would like to thank everyone for your constant support and prayers.
Well today marks one week since Jacko made that move up to Level 4. I don’t think this next step in his journey has sunk in still. When we get into that lift we want to press Level 2 and go back into the little waiting room that became our second home. We will never forget about our time in the waiting room and you kind of feel you can write a book just about that room .
Jack was very tired today but in good spirits. The dietician came in and said that the potassium is now looking good but they still need to monitor it before he can start having that healthy food. Maybe by Saturday he might have had his first fruit portion since he has been in Hospital……mum will be happy .
We left Jack tonight watching the football with Michael, another hero at the Hospital who we have got to know and his family .
We would like to thank Ashley Tabony who sent Jack a biography of Billy Bremnar called “keep fighting”………very appropriate . Jack was very touched by this gesture and mum is going to start reading the book to him. Thank you Ashley.
Wednesday night means one thing…………………Kath cake lady time. Yum yum time.Jack is very excited .
Please can I ask you all to keep praying for my brother and Our Hero’s at the Hospital.
Good night.
Love Annie xx
Email him - [email protected] and send him a support message please, if you can't deal with facebook.
As always I would like to thank everyone for your constant support and prayers.
Personally I felt Jacko looked a bit better in the face today which made me smile when I saw him. He slept well and had a lovely egg and sausage sandwich for breakfast. It's McDonalds for lunch tomorrow .
Tonight Kath the cake lady popped in to see Jack with her yummy cakes. What an amazing lady who constantly amazes me. She gave Jacko the most wonderful t-shirt – with a hand painted logo by her brother with his name on it. Again thanks Kath
Jack is having more blood as his “level is down”. Waited a long time for the blood to arrive. Edward Cullen was late doing his delivery (that’s for the twilight fans)
Tom came to see Jack this afternoon and Sarah arrived to spend a few days with us. Thanks to Mick and Mel for bringing her.
Thanks also to John our Visiting Officer and to Colonel Phil. Your support is so appreciated by us all.
It’s only a short message tonight as up very early tomorrow and need my sleep .
I am very sorry if I worried anyone by not sending an update last night but I have to be completely honest….I fell asleep . I got up at 6am yesterday and was a long tiring day so ended up nodding off as soon as I got back to the house.
As I like to start all my updates I would like to thank everyone for your constant support and love. Your messages of support really help us and give that boost every day we read them.
Yesterday and today Jacko was in good spirits but so tired. Jack’s Troop SSGT came to visit him yesterday with his lovely wife Andrea. This visit I believe gave Jack a couple of answers to questions he needed answered. It was really nice to meet him but it’s such a shame it had to be under these circumstances. Thank you Paul for coming.
My best friend Lucy from home held a cake sale at work to raise money for Help for Heroes. She has added some pictures to the group and raised lots of money. Thank you Lucy .
Tonight my Uncle and Aunt from Dubai arrived and it was so good to see them. The last time they saw Jack was in the first week when he arrived back so he wasn’t in a good way. For them to see him then and now and to see how far he has come on was extraordinary and they said they couldn’t believe it.
Tomorrow evening Kath the cake lady is holding a fundraiser in the local hall to raise money for her wonderful cause. It’s a music quiz and we are hoping to attend as she has given us so much support and we would like to do something for her. Father Michael is joining our team and I really hope we don’t end up with the wooden spoon . We asked Jack about going as we don’t want to be out doing something when he is there but he really wants us to go and support Kath. I don’t think he will be impressed if we come last so we are secretly hoping Father Michael has some hidden music knowledge .
While creating this update the little Ghurka girl who lives in our house just opened the door to my parent’s room and ran in . We give her sweets so she knows we have some here, she is on the hunt and just found the big Haribo bag .
Jack received a signed photo and letter from Graham Cole (Tony Stamp from the Bill ) and what an amazing gesture. Four words that caught my attention were “you are my hero”. It really touched Jack.
We are hoping this weekend he can have some time to rest before Monday as we aren’t definitely sure if he’s going to theatre but if he does we want him rested. I know I worry and people who know me know I am the biggest worrier but when I do see him so tired and drained out I do panic and speak to as many Doctors as I see and ask why and what we can do.
Jack is one of the most extraordinary 22 year olds I have ever met and every day I see him makes me so proud to know that he is my brother. When I talk to the other Hero’s on the ward it makes me so proud to know them and see what amazing individuals we have in this Country.
Please can I ask you all to keep praying for Jack and our Hero’s.
As always I would like to thank everyone for your constant support and prayers.
I am sorry for not sending an update last night but it was very late when we got back from the quiz. Yesterday I started to feel poorly and today I wasn’t feeling good at all which my dad thinks I am drained out and going down with something. Unfortunately this meant I couldn’t risk seeing Jack and passing something on so I went to the Hospital and stood in the door way and just smiled at him as he couldn’t hear me with lack of voice . I lasted about 15 minutes and had to come back to the house to bed.
Result from the quiz night…………drum roll please………we came 4th out of 14 teams wohooooooo no wooden spoon for us . I have added a picture of the winning team and one of the members was Kath’s brother who designs the merchandise to raise money for her cause. The trophy that he designed was the winning prize but as an amazing gesture he went over and gave it to dad to give to Jack. This really touched us. To make you all chuckle I have something to admit…….when we didn’t know an artists’ name we put down….Father Michael. You wouldn’t believe how popular this artist is in all genres of music . One of his best songs was “feeling hot hot hot” hehe . I have added some pictures from the evening which I believe raised just under £450. Kath announced last night that the Hospital has recognised what she does and now is a registered charity…Cakes 4 Casualties.
Mum and dad told me that Jack wasn’t his usual self today and a bit quiet. We believe he has theatre tomorrow so hope he gets some good sleep tonight.
It’s just over two months since all our life’s changed forever and I can’t say we are over the worst. Jacko has battled and gotten over so many obstacles but he has so many more to face and I wish I could take away the physical and emotional pain but I can’t. All we can do is face each day and what it brings and hope Jack has the strength to keep that fight going. Earlier on I was thinking about how we are meant to be or how we are meant to feel but everybody is different. Mum, dad and I have handled all this very differently but that doesn’t mean our own way is wrong it just works best for us.
I was very naïve before all of this and if I am honest when I saw our Heroes at Headley Court I didn’t realise the journey they would have to face to get there. The journey they face doesn’t just affect the Heroes themselves but also the families that are there every step of the way. We have met some incredible families at the Hospital who have become our family.
On the 14th August my brother’s life changed forever and right now times are hard but I know my Jacko and know that he will have a very good life just the path of his journey has changed and things will be done differently.
Nobody one here replies to these, but I will keep posting them - today's update:
Good evening friends,
As always I would like to thank everyone for your constant support and prayers.
Tonight the update is going to be extremely short as I’m still not feeling too good and need some sleep haha. Jack went to theatre this morning and got back just before we went in to visit him. He was extremely tired from the big morning. When we were in with him he was taken back to go for an x-ray so our time with him was cut short.
This evening when we got back in to see him he was so worn out so mum just went through the papers. Jacko told us he won’t go to sleep during the visiting hours as he can sleep in the evening but he was fighting in there to keep awake. What a Hero.
As always I would like to thank everyone for your constant support and love.
Jack had a comfortable night but was extremely tired today. He was looking as white as his England top he was wearing and I laughed we both could be extra’s in the next Twilight movie . However his positive attitude and spirit he shows every day continues to amaze us all and all the medical staff on the ward.
Today some of Jack’s friends from his Regiment and Team came to see him. They brought him up a polo top that all his Team had signed and left messages on, it was so touching and we said to Jacko we will frame it. Thank you Will, Lee, Nathan and Darren and look forward to seeing you again soon .
In the October edition of the Hospital paper it had an article about Father Michael and thought I would share a few lines with you all;
“With his calm but commanding presence, quiet confidence and infectious sense of humour, Father Michael Sharkey is the type of person you would want around when you’re on the frontline in Afghanistan.”
Father Michael said “I’m always amazed and humbled by the lad’s progress, their wonderful senses of humour and their unfailing loyalty to their colleagues. There are guys who have come home with terrible injuries and they are more concerned about who’s left on the frontline. They are an inspiration to us all.”
I completely agree with what Father Michael says about our boys, we have been at the Hospital now for quite some time and we have met so many Heroes and each of them are incredible and show what amazing people we have in this Country. Unfortunately in the press you always seem to read negative messages about this generation when in fact there are so many great people. For example today we met a few members of Jack’s Team; these are the people who saved his life by providing amazing front line care to get him back to Camp Bastian to Surgery. If they didn’t react and help him the way they did I don’t think Jacko would be with us now.
Wednesday night means one thing……………Kath Cake Lady time . She baked Jack this massive lemon drizzle cake which Sarah told her that it was Jack’s favourite which was lovely. We all have our favourite cakes now and mine and Jack’s is the butterfly cake….yum yum. Kath has her new trolley now and it’s looking good with all her goodies and treats on it .
Please can I ask you all to pray for my brother and our Heroes at the Hospital, I got told before we left we are expecting more families there tomorrow.
As always I would like to thank everyone for your constant support and prayers.
Jacko had a good night’s sleep and when we arrived he was having more blood. He was in good spirits and just continues to amaze us all.
Jack received a letter from Harry Redknapp today and was very touched by it and was really shocked how he knew about him. A lovely lady called Claire had got in contact with me and said that she was talking to her friend that works at Tottenham and he told Harry about Jack so I knew the little secret that the letter was coming and it really put a smile on Jacko’s face. Thank you Claire for sorting this for us .
Today we said goodbye to a wonderful family called the Swindells. We first met them towards the end of Jack’s time in Critical Care when their Hero Michael had been brought in. Michael is a wonderful boy that always puts a smile on our faces and had a laugh with Jack shouting at England’s poor performance. I have added a picture of Michael and his parents to the group. Michael is going home for the weekend before going to Headley Court on Tuesday and I said to him we will see him there. Thank you Geoff, Michelle, Jonathon and Lisa for your support and friendship .
We were told that the journey we were facing was going to be bumpy and we would go two steps forward and four steps back and today it was one of those rubbish days. We received a setback today which means tomorrow Jack will need to go back to theatre for more scans and tests. I feel like shouting “how much, how much more can one boy take?” . But I was talking to mum and said that Jacko has beaten bigger battles and he will get there.
Please can I ask you all to pray for Jacko and give him that strength and for all the other Heroes in the Hospital.
As always I would like to thank everyone for your constant support and prayers.
Jack had a comfortable sleep and when we saw him he was in good spirits. We had a good talk with the Military Doctors and understand a lot more now what is happening and all about theatre on Monday. I believe next week is going to be pretty tough for Jacko after the theatre trip so we are hoping he can have a calm relaxing weekend in preparation. Today was a long day for him and I really hope he gets some good sleep tonight.
Today at the Hospital Ed Miliband came to visit the Ward and meet the boys. I actually didn’t meet him but he came in to see Jack this afternoon and said they had a good chat for about 15 minutes. Just to make you all chuckle Jack told us that one of the Heroes said to him “how’s it going with your brother?” …..I don’t think he got much of an answer but had us all chuckling for a long time .
Father Michael continues to provide amazing support to all of us. Tonight Jack had us all in laughter when he said to him “has anyone ever said to you before you look like Martin O’Neil?” What a moment with Father Michael’s face .
One of the Nurses came round this evening with a trolley full of fruit, juices and snacks and all of it was donated by the children from St Oswalds Nursery. It was really touching and they had made some lovely notes.
Please can I ask you all to pray for Jack and our Heroes at the Hospital.
As always I would like to thank everyone for your constant support and prayers.
Jack is in good spirits but unfortunately this weekend hasn’t been too good. Tomorrow is going to be a big day for Jack and will be in theatre nearly all of the day. Please can I ask you all to pray for Jacko and our Heroes.
Good night.
Love Annie xx
Email or FB Jack please....all messages will give him strength. ON ON ON!
As always I would like to thank everyone for your constant support and prayers.
Today has been an extremely long day so my apologies for the short update. Jack went to theatre and was gone a long time. We went in for the evening visiting hours in the hope that he would be back then and on route dad got a phone call from Jack as he wanted a McDonalds . When we saw him he was in good spirits but just extremely hungry and thirsty. After speaking to the Doctors I believe today went well but we will find out more from the results soon.
Please can I ask you all to pray for Jack and our Heroes.
Good night.
Love Annie xx
f**k feeling sorry for yourselves....get emailing messages of support to someone who is REALLY suffering.
Amongst the bickering and general edginess on here this week - please say a prayer for a Leeds fan who is REALLY suffering...latest update from Annie 28th October:
Good evening friends,
As always I would like to thank everyone for your constant support and prayers. We are now over 2500 people wow .
Firstly my apologies for no update last night, unfortunately yesterday wasn’t a good day for any of us so last night I didn’t feel I could write but today is a new day. To gain some strength I took to reading all your messages and while searching the internet I found this which helped-
“You can't have a better tomorrow if you are thinking about yesterday all the time”
We would like to thank Dave Gibson (Gibbo) and Tom Pengelly (Pengo) for their visit yesterday and the wonderful support they gave us. Pengo give Benson a cuddle from us.
Last night being Wednesday…. of course it was the wonderful Kath the cake lady time. Her cakes are truly magnificent. Jack had his usual butterfly cake. Father Michael was a bit jealous over the massive slice of bakewell tart she gave to Mum ha ha. We wish Kath every good wish for the awards ceremony tonight.
Jack had four guys from his search team come to visit this afternoon and he was really pleased to see them especially as two of them administered first aid which helped to save his life. THANK YOU.
All of us would like to thank Jayne Chinnock for phoning tonight and for her letters and presents. Good luck Jayne and her friends for Sunday – many thanks for doing this.
We had a little surprise tonight from the Gurkha family we live with…….yummy cakes from China town. I will add a photo of them later as they are superb. Mum’s already had hers with a cup of tea but I am saving mine .
Jack was in good spirits today but very very tired tonight. He is very lucky that he has two females in the family who can talk for England so he doesn’t need to say anything except rest . We still have our usual routine of mum reading the paper and discussing our favourite topics of Strictly and Xfactor .
Please can I ask you all to pray for Jacko and our Heroes at the Hospital.
As always I would like to thank everyone for your constant support and prayers.
Just a quick update tonight as been a very very long day. Jack hasn’t been too well this week but the Doctors are trying to work out why and what they can do for him, it’s upsetting to see. He was in good spirits though and had some good banter going .
Please can I ask you all to pray for Jacko and our Heroes at the Hospital.
Good night.
Love Annie xx
Please pray, or email Jack, or post on his facebook wall - sounds like he really needs our support ATM....thank you.
Good evening friends, As always I would like to thank everyone for your support and prayers, it really does mean so much to us all. I am sorry for worrying anyone last night with no update but after a very long week I was really sleepy and exhausted. Jack was feeling a bit better today and was in good spirits. I believe that one kind of medicine was having a bad effect on him and that was stopped yesterday morning and we could see the difference in him straight away. Yesterday we surprised Jack’s girlfriend and celebrated her birthday a bit early which is on Tuesday. Jacko ordered her a cake with Kath which turned out amazing. The Military ordered in a Chinese and we brought him in bowls and cutlery so he could have it with Sarah and have a birthday dinner together. It was a really lovely evening but very emotional at the same time. I have added a few pictures of the evening with Sarah and the fabulous birthday cake . Today we had a really nice day with Jack and had many laughs and it was like we were all at home. Tomorrow Jack will be going to theatre so we aren’t sure what time we will see him, we will go in for visiting hours and just wait in his room till his gets back, gives me and mum more time to clean . We said goodbye to Robert another Hero in the Hospital today and his wonderful family. It was very emotional saying goodbye to them, they had given us so much support and we will keep in contact with them and look forward to the day we see them at Headley Court. Please can I ask you all to pray for Jack and our Heroes in the Hospital. Good night. Love Annie xx
Annie has been understandably too busy to post for a couple of day, but her she is again:
Good evening friends,
As always I would like to thank everyone for your support and prayers.
Jack has such busy days with all the medicine he is given, the physio sessions every morning and Doctors and Nurses coming in his room so by the evening visiting hours he is so tired. But everyone that comes into his room he asks how they are and so polite and friendly. He really does continue to amaze us all and makes me so proud. Jack looks forward to food we cook and bring in for him and tonight was steak and pasta . Mum is still watching the potassium levels.
In our home town of Didcot friends of ours are organising an event for Help For Heroes, please find below information from the organisers;
On Sat afternoon, 13th November, a group of Didcot people are organising a pram race around the Didcot Pubs in Aid of ‘Help the Heroes’. The event is a tribute to all of the young men & women who have been injured in the line of duty in Afghanistan, and in particular those based in the Didcot area. The event has been formally registered with H4H.
We are asking for a donation of £5 entrance fee for each team member, who will also be encouraged to raise money by collection en route. Teams can either be 2 people in a pram race or 5 people in a stretcher race (hopefully with fancy dress of their choice!). The race will begin at midday, starting and ending at Didcot Labour Club, and calling at various pubs in the town.
We hope this will be a fun event for those participating and for the spectators, and all in a good cause, especially as it is Remembrance weekend. To continue the day on the same theme, there is an Army, Navy and Airforce themed Quiz Night, also in aid of Help for Heroes, on the same evening, 8pm in Didcot Labour Club, everyone welcome.
As always I would like to thank everyone for your constant support and prayers.
Jack had a good sleep although woke up twice during the night with the machine alarms going off. Today was an extra special day because he had a hair cut wohoooo…..although we were growing quite attached to his long hair . The short hair is back to his Military style and he says he feels better for it.
Today we received a lovely gift from Peter and Dawn Robinson who we haven’t met but knew about Jacko from being told by my best friend. They sent us a Liverpool Football Club scarf saying on it “you’ll never walk alone.” A while ago I was doing the update with the Proms in the background and this amazing song was on. It was so touching when we received it and I have put it in Jack’s room and he was very moved by it also. The support we have received from all of you is so overwhelming and we can’t possible thank you all enough.
Jack’s good friend Ivan came up today and it really put a smile on Jacko’s face. It was really funny because it was Kath the cake lady night and she is taking Russian classes and Ivan is Russian so they were having conversations and testing Kath’s ability. She said next time she will bring in her homework for Ivan to do .
Please can I ask you all to pray for Jack and our Heroes at the Hospital.
Good night.
Love Annie xx
Liverpool scarf. Not so good news :mrgreen:
Good to see other football fans giving him support as well.
As always i would like to thank everyone for your constant support and prayers.
Jack was very tired today as he had a disturbed night and a busy morning. He was very pleased to see my Aunt and Uncle who he hadn’t seen for a few weeks.
Today in the SSAFA house we are staying in they had a Big Brew fundraiser for the charity. All the local people who help fundraise came to the house and it was nice to meet them. My dad presented the manager of the house with a cheque that the Middlesex Yeomanry Association had given. I will add a picture later. We are extremely grateful to SSAFA and what they have done for us.
This evening the Army Chefs from the Military School of Catering came to cook us dinner. It was Italian themed and very yummy. We took some in for Jack’s dinner which went down a treat .
When we first arrived at the Hospital all those weeks ago we met a Hero called Ashley and his family and yesterday he came back as he has to have another operation. We wish him all the best for a speedy recovery.
Jacko continues to amaze us all and we are so proud of him. Tomorrow we are going to bring in hot dogs for his dinner and hope we can see some fireworks from his window .
Good night.
Love Annie xx
I hope at least they can wheel Jacks bed to where he CAN see fireworks...
As always I would like to thank everyone for your support and prayers. I am sorry for worrying anyone from no update this weekend.
Friday was an extremely special day for Jack and our family as he was presented his medal. It was a wonderful afternoon and if we are honest we never thought that day would ever come. When Jack came back from his first tour he didn’t have a medal presentation as he went straight to his next job so we really wanted him to receive his medal if it was possible. His Regiment had organised a perfect afternoon with the Brigade Commander presenting the medal. The Military Liaison Team organised everything including a lovely buffet and the room set up. To start the presentation the Adjutant read out the citation which was extremely emotional and just showed even more what a Hero Jack is and what he had achieved out there doing the hardest job.
We shared this wonderful day with the people who had been with us when we first arrived including Father Michael and members of the Defence Medical Welfare and people we have met during our journey including Kath the amazing cake lady, the physio team and the Doctors up on Level 4. I have added a few pictures from the day with Jack’s permission and I know for many of you this will be the first time you will be seeing Jacko. Words can’t describe how proud I am of Jack…he has shown so much courage, bravery and determination to fight to live and get his life back.
This week has been a more positive week and Jack has been in good spirit. Tomorrow he will be going to theatre which seems to be our usual Monday routine. We will head to the Hospital and just wait in his room until he gets back, while waiting me and mum will just clean clean clean .
12 weeks ago today we arrived in Birmingham, the journey so far has been testing and filled with a lots of heartache and upset but I am happy to say that Jack kept on fighting and wouldn’t give up and we will get him home one day, I just don’t know when that will be.
Please can I ask you all for pray for Jack and our Heroes in the Hospital.
As always I would like to thank everyone for your constant support and prayers.
Jack was in good spirits today and was looking better than he has for the past few days. We brought him in his dinner tonight…….nice big beef burgers and rice…..with the added touch of tomato ketchup and mayonnaise .
Today Jack’s friends “Gwynnie” and Steve came to see him and it really gave Jacko a boost. We took him in some cakes to share round which I think went down very well . We got told when we first arrived that Jack has two families….one being us and the other is his “Military” family and we can’t underestimate the bond they have. I would like to thank Steve’s mum for sending me a lovely present…..a lovely big sparkly Poppy which I will wear with pride.
Tomorrow evening is the Pride of Britain Awards and it holds a special place in our hearts as the Special Recognition Award went to the Counter-IED Task Force which is what Jack is part of.
Please can I ask you all to pray for Jack and our Heroes at the Hospital.
. 
. I lasted about 15 minutes and had to come back to the house to bed.
