In 2010 Hazel was working as a personal assistant for a senior executive and was admitted to hospital with a serious bowel condition. Unfortunately her condition led to her being in intensive care for six months. During that time she sustained a hypoxic brain injury. This type of brain injury is caused by an interruption of the supply of oxygen to the brain.

Ten months after leaving intensive care, and at age 61, she moved to The Richardson Mews (in Kingsthorpe, Northampton). At that time she was using a wheelchair and needed help with all her daily tasks like making meals, washing, showering and dressing.

As at the time of writing, 13 months after moving into The Mews – Hazel is moving into her own home to live independently. Our multi-disciplinary team have been working with her during her time with us – in re-learning some vital skills and she has undergone amongst other rehabilitation programmes: Speech & Language Therapy; Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy. Despite physical difficulties with her feet, she no longer requires a wheelchair and walks using sticks. Hazel has made steady progress and now makes her own meals and enjoys baking cakes. This is what she has to say about her experience of living in our home:

“Staying at The Mews has been fantastic. I can do lots of things now that some people thought I would never be able to do. I was determined that I wanted to walk again and I’ve achieved that with the help of the people here. Everybody is really friendly and helpful. And the carers have gotten to know me very well, so occasionally, if I’m feeling a bit off colour then they can tell, which really helps.

It’s like home from home and I think my progress has been brilliant, helped by the combination of therapies that I’ve received. It’s little things that make a difference, like being able to change my stoma bag myself – I felt it was the worst thing that someone else had to do for me. I’m really excited about moving into my new home. I love gardening and I’m looking forward to having a garden again.”

We are really pleased that Hazel can now live her life, independently, in her own home. This is a great success story for us, as this is an ultimate goal that we hold for any service user who is able to progress this far. If you would like to find out more about how we tailor our care and rehabilitation programmes on each service user – please call our Admissions and Referrals Team on 01604 791 266, tweet us on @RPC_residcare or email us on info.ld@caresidential.co.uk (learning difficulties) or info.bi@careresidential.co.uk (brain injuries).