ENDEARING REAL LIFE
Rachel Powell, 29, from Leighton Buzzard, broke all traditions, giving her grandad avery special role to fill on her wedding day...
PICTURE PERFECT
Calming down after a blustery coastal walk, it was amiracle that I hadn’t been blown off the cliff.
Only, Ihad special news.
‘I’m engaged!’ I cried, calling my grandad Bert, now 95, in December 2021.
We’d always been so close.
Growing up, Grandad loved to take my brother Sam, now 25, and Iout exploring.
So, Iknew after nearly eight years with my partner Andy, now 29, Grandad was one of the first people Ihad to call.
‘Ah that’s good,’ Grandad cheered. ‘That means Ican get some great grandchildren.’
Known to be the joker of the 20 family, as well as his love for the great outdoors and poetry, Grandad has apassion to make other people chuckle –always up to no good.
And despite his age, Grandad was so fit and healthy –he’d be the first one on the dance floor, no matter what.
Which meant that Iknew he was going to be the real star of the show on my wedding day.
However, as preparations were in full swing, in December 2022, disaster struck.
‘Are you sure you’re OK?’ I asked, going to visit Grandad with my mum Sue, now 63.
After having aslight fall in a car park, Grandad insisted that he was doing fine.
Yet, as the weeks passed, we noticed that Grandad was left a little breathless –which was really unlike him.
‘I’ve got an oxygen monitor left over from Covid. I’m just going to test you,’ I said, placing the device on his finger.
And looking at the results, I panicked –his oxygen levels were really low.
Calling an ambulance, with Grandad taken into John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, we weren’t really sure what was going on.
Yet, we knew deep down that something wasn’t right.
Only, the whole ordeal didn’t seem to faze Grandad –he was still laughing and joking throughout everything.
‘If you didn’t call the ambulance when you did, he would have been dead within hours,’ the doctors revealed – it was ahorrible thought.
However, we weren’t out of the woods just yet.
Diagnosed with vocal cord palsy, avoice disorder that occurs when the vocal folds don’t open or close properly, he needed atracheostomy in his throat, before we were told something else.
‘We are sorry to say this but there is achance that Bert won’t be able to walk, talk or eat again from this moment,’ the medics continued.
It was ahuge shock –especially as Grandad hadn’t been to hospital in over 70 years.
He hadn’t been to hospital in over 70 years
Everything had escalated so qui
