Tina worked in the travel industry for over 30 years starting with Bakers Dolphin Travel and subsequently becoming a successful homeworker for Hays Travel. In 2009 she was diagnosed with a brain tumour and although it was benign, it was growing rapidly and doctors decided she needed to undergo treatment in order to shrink it.
Unfortunately the stereotactic radiosurgery that Tina endured in 2010 was not successful and instead of the tumour shrinking, her whole brain swelled. Her brain surgeon had never seen anything like it. After suffering fits and terrible headaches for six months, one day Tina had a massive fit and was rushed into hospital.
Tina underwent emergency surgery for nine hours after her brain had swollen to such an extent that doctors had to remove a quarter of her skull. As a result of this surgery, Tina lost a large percentage of her sight, which she was told she would never regain. Her skull was not replaced and she was left feeling very vulnerable and needing help with simple tasks. While her daughters were a fantastic help to Tina during this time, she was often left alone at home for long periods of time while her eldest was at work and youngest at school.
Tina remained positive but dreamed of the day she would be able to go out into her garden unaided, which she could not do due to the uneven flooring and multiple trip hazards. She contacted ABTA LifeLine to see if we could help make her garden safe and accessible to give her a little bit of freedom.
We took an appeal to Travel Weekly's Agent Achievement Awards to raise £4,000 and were blown away by the generosity of the industry. An incredible £7,000 was raised, meaning that not only were we able to tell Tina her dream would come true, but that the remainder would go towards helping more individuals and families in need.
'ABTA LifeLine were truly amazing and raised funds for this project giving me a beautiful, safe, relaxing garden to enjoy. I feel I have a new lease of life and look forward to many happy days pottering outdoors. Thank you so much to ABTA LifeLine and everyone who donated. I am eternally grateful.'
Take a look at the full story below...
Before and after...
