Dani:

Slight panic when we arrived at the hospital and were told we couldn’t see Russ for an hour (without any explanation) especially as when we were allowed entry to his room, he was zonko with a rather alarming number of new medicine lines going into him.

Finally tracked a nurse down who explained that they’d done a routine treatment on him that morning to clear his lungs and were going to keep him sedated for the remainder of the day. As well as mucus build up, lab reports showed that he has another lung infection so he is also back on the antibiotics
(lung infections are part and parcel of being in Intensive Care).

Mum went home today which was a sad moment. She’s been here for the long 5-week journey we’ve had so far and has provided untold love and support throughout. Thank you, Ma. We miss you already!

We also said good bye to James, Bev and Croyde. And said hello to Lisa, Andrew, Dad and Wendy who all arrived this afternoon. Also, to Nick and Roohi who popped over for a flying visit but couldn’t see Russ cos of him being sedated so had to make do with me instead :-s

Russ should be awake tomorrow so looking forward to having livelier times to report….

Lorra love xxxx

Me:

Oh Russ, I have just remembered…I meant to keep you up to date with current affairs….sorry, failed miserably! Not much has happened….Kate hasn’t had her baby yet…that’s about it ;s

xxxx

Lissie

As you can see from this and the last photo, there’s a party going on down in Room 7 of the “Reanimation” ward at St Anne’s Hospital.

Where Russ goes, the party follows…….

Lol xxxx

 Nick and James sporting the “Specsavers” brand while Russ doing the “sporting look”

Russ tackling James albeit he’s on life support system :-s

From Danibelle:

Russ was his most liveliest today. Starting to be fed some proper food so still at the experimental stage but managed to down some hospital “goo” plus some finely chopped cherries care of yours truly 🙂

Also managed to make us laugh over several funny jokes today – and the guy can’t even speak!!! Very funny catheter joke with James. Not to be revealed in polite society!

So, a good day all in all. Various additional lovely peeps arriving tomorrow, Thursday and Friday so Russ Boy not gonna be short of company. On the other hand, my liver might be crying out for help by the end of the weekend……

Nigh night from Toulon xxxx

Piccy of Amber and Croyde entertaining me, mum, Trudy, Jack, Bev and James – and a troupe of locals – with the movie they made while we were dining post-hospital visit this evening.

And a heart melting message from my mum:

Dear all
This will be my penultimate bulletin. I am going home on Friday by train. I shall really miss Dani, Russ, Amber  and Lily (when she was here). I feel very privileged to have met Dani and Russ' lovely friends and to be able to get to know them better. It will be strange to leave the "bubble" here in Toulon but hope to return to a more familiar " bubble" on Friday.
Russ has been amazing today. Although I haven't been privy to everything that has happened, I found him very alert and felt I could understand quite a bit of what he was trying to say.

Dani tells me that he has had two meals today, I believe fish and a fruit meal. Consequently, he no longer has the feeding tube in his nose. Yet another milestone!
He has had several visitors today. An old friend, Trudy, drove with her son Jack from Lyon where she was staying with friends. I think Russ was very happy to see her. Later in the day, his friend, James Cracknell and beautiful wife Beverley went to see him. I gather he was communicating with James with various recognisable gestures. Obviously, he retains a good sense of humour!
It appears each day is a milestone at present. 
I feel that during my time here with Danielle we have witnessed something of a miracle. Well done to Russ, you are amazing! Also Russ, when you read all this in the future, you will realise how totally, mind blowingly fantastic your wife and daughters have been. Brave, strong and generous hearted to a fault.
My dear love to you all
Jenni xxxx 

Russ Enjoying a Solero with his hands tied!

Russ pretty zonko all day today. The nurses were saying he’s very lively during the night hence why he’s so tired during the day. Not very considerate for visitors!

This morning he was taken for a CAT scan to check a haematoma which has developed on his back. Only feedback we’ve got is that no definitive view yet but initial views are that there is nothing to worry about.

Alwyn and I came up this afternoon armed with an ipad on which we’d downloaded Django Unchained, the latest Quentin Tarantino movie. Couldn’t find anything to prop it up on hence Alwyn having to imitate a TV stand (think he prefers that role to Chief Bollock Wallah). Luckily for Al, Russ fell asleep 20 mins into the movie so we watched it instead! Felt very wrong watching a typically brutal Tarrantino  movie while in an Intensive Care Unit!!

Oh, the other thing to report is that Russ has been very naughty and again trying to remove all his wires and tubes etc. Worse still, today he actually managed to pull out his tracheotomy device. So, his punishment is that his arms are now permanently restrained so he now looks like an inmate in Guantanamo  Bay. Better safe than sorry though :-s

Love Danielle xxxx

Bonsoir
Just a line or two to say it has been another sleepy day. I believe Danielle has brought you up to speed on the fact that Russ had a scan. It was because he had a haematoma on his back. The preliminary results indicated that it wasn't cause for concern.
Russ was very, very tired but it was explained to us that the above procedure exhausted him.
He has lots of friends visiting tomorrow so we really hope he will be awake!
Apparently he is a member of " The wide awake club" at night" so hoping to reverse the pattern!
Well, I too am very sleepy.
Night, night.
Hugs to all
Jenni xxx

Thanks you all so much for your support over the last few weeks and for ‘tuning’ into the Blog.  We are all hugely buoyed up by the lovely messages you have posted and knowing that you are all out there willing Russ on keeps everyone strong and focussed.  Tonight we have had nearly 17000 views!….Maybe we will be voted into next years BAFTA awards!

It is over four weeks ago since this horrible accident happened and not a waking minute of the day goes by without friends and family thinking about poor Russ and willing him to keep finding that famous inner strength of his to keep fighting and making progress.

You are all now up to speed with where he is, what has happened and how he is progressing but you may not be aware about HOW it happened.

Russ and Dani’s very good mate Roy has very kindly written an account:

I’ve been asked to write a few words about the day of Russ’s accident as many of you don’t know the details of what happened.  That includes Russ himself as he doesn’t appear to have any memory of the accident.  Apparently this is perfectly normal - the body uses loss of memory as a shock absorber for traumatic incidents.

For the last five years Russ has been cycling in late spring together with a group of friends, known to themselves as Team WDF.   After a dismal rainy trip to Brittany last year, it was decided that this time we would go to the sunny Riviera, and a route was devised by Russ and Alastair to combine the beautiful Gorges du Verdon with plenty of climbing opportunities. Russ did quite a good job of keeping the route secret so that the full scale of the challenge would come as a nice surprise.

This year there were thirteen cyclists taking part.  After a late arrival the night before, on Friday 14th June Team WDF gathered for breakfast on a sunny terrace near Grasse before setting off on the first and hardest day of the trip - 120 km with 2,200m of climbing.    Russ was in his element as he alternated between encouraging the less proficient members of the group such as me up the steep hills, then speeding off to test his mettle against the more competent riders.   After a coffee stop in a small ski station called Andon, we followed the Route Napoleon and then broke for lunch at Comps-sur-Artuby, a small town full of cyclists enjoying the scenery.

Setting off again in the heat of the early afternoon, the group entered the spectacular Gorges du Verdon, eventually climbing up a long and steep hill to the Col d’Illoire at nearly 1000m.  Russ was in the front group, which gathered together at the top to rehydrate and admire the view down over the Lac de Sainte-Croix far below.  It was 5pm in the afternoon.

Russ always regards a good descent as a reward for the climb that preceded it, and in perfect conditions he launched off downhill for the last leg of the trip.  The road was an average width D-road, pretty steep, and with several hairpin bends on the first section but the sort of road that Russ has descended many times before.  After sweeping through the first few bends, he was out on his own going fast, so nobody in our group saw the moment of his crash.  It seems that his luck deserted him, and as he approached a right-hand bend at speed, a convoy of Swiss motorcyclists came uphill around the corner in the other direction.

There has been a lot of debate about what exactly happened and we will probably never know.  The collision seems to have been a slight one as Russ’s bike was not badly damaged and ended up in the hedge at the roadside.  After being thrown off the bike Russ ended up face down on the road after a heavy impact. It appears he did not roll, but landed heavily in the flatter lee of the bend.  Dickon was the first to arrive on the scene and together with Quentin did an amazing job tending to Russ. He was clearly very badly hurt and in extreme pain, though he was quite conscious and lucid, and understood that the accident was severe.

The road was quickly closed and cars and coaches backed up as we all awaited the arrival of the emergency services.  But this was a remote place, and it took a long 60 minutes and several calls for the emergency services to finally arrive. Very carefully, Russ was turned, strapped to a mobile stretcher, and taken to the ambulance to be examined. Russ was still conscious at this point and was able to give his date of birth immediately when asked. The two emergency personnel were not specialists, and shortly afterwards a red helicopter arrived overhead, circled awhile trying to find somewhere suitable to land, and then lowered a medic down a rope with some of his equipment. He spent some time examining Russ inside the ambulance and thereafter things seemed to move a lot faster. Russ was taken lower down the hill to a place where the helicopter could land, then he was gently transferred inside and the helicopter lifted off above the watching cyclists to Toulon where he is now.

After joining the shocked motorcyclists in helping the police with statements at 7.30pm I rejoined the rest of our sombre group at the hotel where we tried to take in what had happened

A huge thanks to Roy, Dickin, Quintin and the other chaps. This would have been a horrendous experience for you all too. Thanks for staying with Russ and doing all that you did xxx

Message from Danibelle:

Russ very sleepy this morning and back on the ventilator. Also, the “balloon” that prevents him speaking has been inflated again so no chance of him being able to talk; he just has to listen to us banging on incessantly, poor guy. Mum and I had an appointment with one of the doctor’s this afternoon in order to get a current update. It was a different doctor to the ones we’ve seen in previous weeks and this particular doctor is of the view that it will be another 2 weeks until he is finally weaned off the ventilator. He also thinks it will be another 2 weeks after that before they will deem it safe to remove the tracheotomy. The messaging we’ve been getting from the specialist hospitals we are looking to repatriate Russ to in the UK is that they will only admit him once he is off the ventilator and the tracheotomy has been removed.

Soooooo, looks like we’ll be a few more weeks in Toulon. I’ve now spent so much timing living at the Holiday Inn here that I think I am fast becoming the “Alan Partridge of Toulon”. I am due to return to London next week for 5 days to sort some stuff out for the girls; just as well as I think I am nearly at the point where I might be tempted to start dissembling vacuum cleaners in my room….

Anyway, time here has been put to good use (aside from, of course,our twice daily visits to Russ). We have now established who is the best UK consultant and hospital to transfer Russ to when the time is right so that is a bit of a relief. He’ll be going to the London Bridge Hospital (huge thanks to the winning combo of Tom Carrell, Dan White and my dad for sorting this out).

This morning in Toulon!

Russ, Amber and Russ’s older bro, Alwyn…AKA Chief bollock wallah!!! xxxx

Dear all
Not a lot to say other than it has been a very quiet day. Russ was very tired this morning as yesterday had been a very strenuous day for him and he had achieved a great deal. He was off the ventilator when we arrived but was very sleepy so was put back on it.
He continues to be quite naughty with regard to trying to pull out tubes etc. In fact he managed to pull out the 'feeding tube' from his nose and had a telling off from the nurses!!
So not much more to tell but will update tomorrow.
Dear love to you all
Jenni xxxx

Today’s update from Danibelle:

Got to the hospital today and Russ was off the ventilator. Pretty bright and breezy for the morning visiting session albeit still frustrated at not being able to make himself understood.

Between visiting times, the medical staff had deflated the balloon in the tracheotomy device which restricts speech. While the medics said it takes a day or so to start making audible noises again, Russ typically was exceeding expectations and was able to mutter a few words when Alwyn arrived at 4pm. Also, typical of Russ, rather than restrict himself to a couple of monosyllabic words, he went the whole hog and, in response to Alwyn telling him some brief details of something, asked him to “elaborate”. Four blimming syllables!

Anyway, clearly exhausted after his efforts, he indicated to Alwyn that he was hot and wanted to rest. So, Alwyn duly obliged by removing his sheets (under which Russ is fully naked) and fanning him to cool him down. When I arrived, I did catch Alwyn telling Russ that when he can speak, he mustn’t tell anyone he was “fanning his bollocks for two hours”. He has since been nick-named “Chief Bollock Wallah”.

More tomorrow!

Alwyn, myself and the girls arrived at the hospital this morning to find Russ being tended to by two rather stunning physiotherapists (typical Russ!) so we had to leave for a while for them to finish. Alwyn put in a bid for them “to give him whatever Russ was having” which humoured Russ (and the physios!).

Anyway, we spent all morning with Russ and he was clearly pleased to have us around his bedside. Its still nigh impossible to understand what he is mouthing so we just try to persuade him not to even try saying anything (other than simple “pointing” antics and “yes” and “no”) as he gets frustrated and we feel awful for not being able to understand him. As we keep reassuring him, the tracheotomy will be removed sometime in the next week or so and he will then be able to speak to his heart’s content (and, no doubt verbalise what morons we’ve all been in not even having been able to understand his most simplistic of “mouthings”).

As he seems to have perfected the art of drinking water despite the tracheotomy, we asked the medical staff if he could have some ice-cream and they agreed. One “Solero” later, he was a very happy chappy. It sure must make a change from the protein goo that has been pumped into him via a nasal tube for the last 4 weeks.

For the last few days, the doctors have been taking Russ off the ventilator for a short period twice per day. The first day it was for 2 periods of 30 mins, yesterday for 2 periods of an hour and today for 2 periods of 2 hours (preceded each time with a blood transfusion to maximise the oxygen in his blood). The idea of this is to keep increasing the periods until such time as they are satisfied he can come off the ventilator altogether. At that point, the tracheotomy can be removed and he will be able to talk, eat and drink as normal which will be a huge milestone.

Whilst there had been some early concerns that Russ’s cardiac arrest when in surgery on arrival at hospital (it took them about 20 mins or so to get the heart beating again) might have resulted in lack of oxygen to the brain and some form of brain damage, these concerns have melted away. Whilst he can’t speak at the moment, he is clearly very alert (when awake) and seems to know what we are talking about whatever the subject we choose. He has also confirmed that he understands what the french medics are talking about when they are discussing treatments etc in his room (his french was always pretty good). So, we’re all confident that he is still “Russ”, down to his humour which has also been very evident during the last few days.

He understands all the injuries he has incurred as his little bro, Stuart, and I have been through them all with him. Most importantly, he knows he’s incurred a spinal chord injury and this is why he can’t feel his legs. I’ve explained (small mercies) that it is at T11 which is low down, below the naval, and that this, importantly, means he has use of all his core muscles which will count for a lot going forward, not just in terms of day to day living but, also, in terms of all the new sports Russ will undoubtedly turn his hand to in the future.

Of course, the spinal injury is something we will be getting second opinions on when Russ is fit to be repatriated to the UK but we all know that there is no surety of any “easy fix”.What absolutely amazed me about Russ’s response to me telling him of the details of the spinal injury was just how admirably sanguine he was about it. Such stunning bravery.

Anyway, as I told him, lucky that he had already completed pretty much every sporting challenge there exists on earth before he had the accident. Also, he already knows that there are an awful lot of people who are lining up to get him involved in new sporting challenges as soon as he has regained his health and been fully rehabilitated, so still everything to play for, sporting wise. In fact, James Cracknell has already emailed Russ to say that he is busily looking at stuff they can do together once Russ is ready. James and Bev are coming out to see Russ next week so no doubt plans will be hatched, time-tables prepared and wheels put in motion by the end of that visit :-s

So, some light at the end of the tunnel for us all. When I think of my arrival in Toulon four weeks ago, I was told that not only had Russ nearly died in theatre but that he might yet still not make it due to the severity of his many injuries. It was also made amply clear to us that the potential cardiac-related issues with the brain might mean that, even if he did survive, he might never wake up or that, if he did, he might be brain damaged. We’ve come a long way since then and it is clear that the doctors here are amazed and impressed.

I know there is still a long road ahead but I have never been more proud of Russ and the sheer “fight” in the man. As everyone knows, I love him endlessly. And what has been so lovely to know is that there are literally hundreds of people (both family and friends) who do too.

Thank you to everyone for all their amazing messages of love and support throughout this ordeal. It has been of such huge comfort and I know that it means that Russ, I and our beautiful daughters can all feel very positive about the future.

Love Danielle xxxx

Hello everyone,

 Good evening everyone
Today was good again. Russ was very alert this morning and enjoyed seeing his beautiful daughters and was even more alert and " with it" this evening.  Alwyn arrived from America tonight and will see him tomorrow. Russ has remembered that Alwyn is coming so the short term memory is looking good.
Dani has asked me to tell you all about Russ' fixation with the cabinet at the end of his bed. It is quite entertaining. He stares at it and motions to Dani to move it, which she does. When we return in the afternoon, the nurses have moved it back and we go through the whole procedure again. Dani was at pains to show him what is in the drawer but he is obviously "hung up" about it!
So, Russ looks stronger each day and we just can't wait until he can speak as he will feel much less frustrated, understandably.
The girls have been so wonderful with Russ and we shall miss Lily being here. She is going on a sailing trip around Sardinia. Fortunately, Amber is staying and she is being her usual amusing self with Russ, quite bossy actually.
Anyway, that's all the news.
Love to you all
Jenni x