CPR to a fan

Ok so its now been a week and my apologies I haven't updated this but its been a bit of a up down then up again week. Some of you may have seen a MC tweet yesterday. He had been in touch offering any help we needed and enquiring about my dad last weekend so we agreed to him putting the info out there as he said the club had received lots of calls asking about him so I thought I would come back on here and give you all a better picture of what happened and where we are at.
So there's me, my dad(Gordon Harding), my mum and two friends stood where we have moved to this season at the back of the North stand chatting away and then Trinity score(still don't know who it was) more or less from the KO and there's a roar from the crowd followed by a thud. I turned round thing WTF that to see him laid out on the floor with blood coming from his head at that point my backside fell out and if my two friends hadn't reacted so quickly god knows what would have happened (When I get time I am taking you two out and we are getting smashed so best get Mrs sponge to lock the wardrobe door and I might even pay for the Pie shop!) So they secured him whilst I ran for St Johns I believe that there were also others from the crowd who helped and if your reading this please get in touch so I can thank you personally. St Johns were brilliant they rushed up to the back and worked miracles along with the club doctor till the paramedics arrived I don't know how many times they lost him but it was a few but they kept at him and for that I will be eternally grateful. In the mean time I was also trying to get my mum somewhere as she was in bits and that's where praise has to go to the stewards and the club. I know sometimes on here they take a bit of a bashing from posters for various reasons but they were superb not only assisting with my Dad but also of taking care of my mum and making sure she was ok and Sally from the club also came across and sat with her whilst I dealt with what was going on. My son was stood with his friends nearby where it was all going on and my other concern was to get him away from it all as I really didn't want him to see his Grandad fighting for his life so I managed to get him out of harms way till his mum came pick him up. The paramedics got him strapped to the chair and carried him down to the waiting ambulance but due to his condition we couldn't ride with them so I had to run for the car which was over near Barnsley Rd and they nearly had to call for another ambulance for me as it just about killed me. At Pinders we were told that he was struggling and his heart had stopped in the ambulance and also whilst he was on the table and that it didn't look good and to prepare for the worst. My family descended on the hospital en-masse some I had called on the way, Others had found out as the club realised I had a relative who had a table in hospitality and let him know who in turn let others in the family know so were all sat there and then they come and ask do you want to see him. He was wired to god knows how many pieces of machinery and when I saw him I thought that's it no way is he coming back from this he's too far gone. They did a CT on him and they said his brain was fine (first time for everything I suppose) but it was a problem with his breathing that was having a knock on effect with this heart so they were keeping him heavily sedated to allow his body to come to terms with it all. So all we could do was sit and wait.

A couple of hours later they said they were transferring him up to ICU so we all trooped up there and waited again. They got him comfortable and we had a few minutes with him to say goodnight. I got home went to bed and didn't sleep a wink constantly checking my phone in case I had missed a call or a message. Rang the hospital and they said no change. My bother and mum went up at lunchtime and I followed shortly after and spoke to the consultant who basically said everything from the night before and he explained they had tried to wake him but when they took the air tube from down his throat he had become agitated and they had to put him back under but it was common and that it could take numerous times to wake him. The rest of his organs were fine but there was a chest infection causing concern. Now he had a bit of a cough the day it happened but nothing serious but it was stopping him breathing and they needed to treat it and clean out his lungs. They said they would try bring him round again later that day and the doctors talked to me and said that they were reducing his medication and that we should see a result in a hour, hour and half well they got that wrong as 20 minutes later he woke up with as start (think of the scene in Jaws 3 where the baby shark springs to life) and started throwing his arms and legs everywhere but as before it was too much for him and they had to put him under again.

Saturday more of the same until the evening when another consultant pulled us in and said look he's not getting any better and there is possibly neurological damage and we need to see an improvement in 48 hours or we may need to have THE CONVERSATION and that's when my world collapsed I couldn't process it I had seen him throwing his arms and legs about he couldn't have brain damage he was getting better surely so home we went absolutely gutted.

Sunday more of the same and another nurse and consultant but they gave us a bit more hope and said there was no deadline but the longer they couldn't wake him the harder it would be so we all just tried to keep talking to him just praying that he would move.

Monday they tried to wake him no change but they talked about doing a tracheostomy as that may make it easier to bring him round but they were going to reduce his medication and switch his drugs around as they were happy with his progress. So just before I go in to see him mum says grab his shoulder and talk to him I have felt him moving. She had been talking to him about the fact that they had cut off his Trinity shirt (hospice shirt I think but I might treat him to a magic weekend shirt if there any good) and my missus had washed the bag of clothes they had given us from the hospital and hung it up to dry only to find it the shirt in bits and had gotten upset as she had thought it had happened in the washing machine. So in I went and I thought give him it tell him enoughs enoughs now stop being a lazy git and get out of bed so I am grabbing his shoulder and im talking to him and he's moving, his legs are going his heads twitching then I start telling him come on I need him fit enough for Leigh then his eyes open and he's there not actually with it but he's there all the same so I call the doctors over and tell them what happening and they tell me its normal and not read too much into it but then its time to go but at least im going home buzzing.

Tuesday morning called the hospital for the morning check up and there's no change. 12.00 my auntie calls she's been there every day and she tells me the news we have been waiting for he's awake and they have got the tube from down his throat. He still needs a mask but he's trying to talk and he's communicating. I'm not going to try to explain what I felt I can't but I rang my wife and told her to get my mum there asap and id pay any speeding fines and I abandoned my desk and bolted to the hospital. Got to see him straight away and the change was immense he knew what we were saying and he was following instructions. They swapped his mask for a hood which made him look a bit of tit and I wish I had taken a photo it was basically a goldfish bowl on his head but it did its job. Tuesday was a really good day!

Wednesday mornings call came with the news that they had had to put him under again due to the chest infection and intubate him but not to worry he was still doing good. They decided to do the tracheostomy and wake him up so when I went later that day he was sat up in bed complaining about a dry mouth a lot more alert and with it. Still trying to shift crap from his lungs he was having these massive fits and the first time I saw it I panicked and got the nurse as I thought he was having some sort of seizure but its what he needs to do to get rid of it.

Thursday he looked better and they even started to do some physio on him and he asked to see his grandkids which was a massive boost for them as we had kept them away and tried to keep things as normal as we could for them but they had wanted to see him but I didn't want them to be scared of the machines and also I didn't want to put him under any strain either but they went last night and he was chuffed and so were they. My daughter is too young to go but she has made a video to cheer him up of her singing red white and blue army except when she sings it it comes out as red white and blue armpits.

I haven't been up today yet but I get an update from my brother everyday as soon as he lands up there and they are talking of getting him out of the bed and into a chair and also weaning him off the ventilator and maybe if all goes well transferring him to the cardiac ward in the next few days.

They still don't know the cause but it wasn't a heart attack possibly a narrow artery or it may have just been an irregular heat flutter that can happen to any one but they are sure they can sort it but at the moment they just need him to get stronger and then we can deal with it.

So he's not out of the woods yet and its going to be a long recovery for him but we are on a different planet from where we were a week ago!

I am sorry if I have rambled on a bit but just wanted to let you all know what's been going on. Once again though my thanks go out to M.C the club the stewards, SpongeBob, JR, St johns ambulance, The club doctor, The paramedics and all the staff at Pinderfields.

I don't know yet if I will be at the Leigh match .My son will be desperate to go but it might be a little too raw yet for me so I might watch it on the T.V. either way though I think I will tell my old man that we have won even if we don't as he was convinced we would beat them before this happened but as a starter I am sure he would be happy with two points tonight!!!!!!!!

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