'Miracle' woman’s bike ride of thanks

Sep 29 2008 by Paul Loraine, The Journal

A DENTIST who almost died after suffering a brain haemorrhage has paid tribute to the surgeon who saved her life.

Fiona Beddis was a perfectly healthy 40-year-old when she collapsed in the Grainger Park Road surgery in Benwell she owned with husband Alan around two years ago.

She was taken to Newcastle General Hospital where, three days later, she had surgery to remove an aneurysm in her brain. The operation lasted five hours – double the expected time – and all that time her husband Alan was sat nervously waiting outside the theatre.

“It completely changed my life. I don’t worry about anything now,” Fiona said.

“I feel like I’m a walking miracle and I’m just so thankful to everyone that had a part to play in saving my life.”

Fiona, now 42, was in hospital for two weeks after the operation and bed ridden at home for another month.

The effects of the operation ranged from damaging her memory and speech to cancelling out her fear of spiders.

“The treatment at the General was just fantastic. How do you actually thank someone who saved your life? Do you get them a bottle of wine or a box of chocolates? It’s just meaningless.

“I’m just so grateful to be alive. I was seeing my boys for what could have been the last time. I had to sign my will before I went in for surgery. I think it’s 50% of people die before they hit the floor when they have what I had, a percentage die on the way to the hospital and 10% don’t survive the operation.

“All that time, in a bizarre way, even though I knew there was a chance I might die, I was so determined to live – I just had complete faith.” Since the haemorrhage in August 2006, Fiona and Alan, 57, have now sold the practice. While Alan still works there, Fiona now teaches at Newcastle Dental Hospital as her ordeal has affected her stamina.

The couple live with their two boys, Tom, 14, and Stuart, 11 – both pupils at Dame Allan’s school in Newcastle – at Newton, near Corbridge, Northumberland.

In an attempt to pay back the people she feels she owes so much, Fiona has planned a sponsored bike ride from Glasgow to Newcastle with the funds going to the Northern Brainwave Appeal – the charity that paid for some of the equipment which saved her life. The 150-mile challenge is planned for October 16-18.

“If it wasn’t for the Brainwave Appeal and the skill of Professor Mendelow (the neurosurgeon who performed the operation) and his staff I wouldn’t be here and I just feel so blessed,” Fiona said. “The bike ride is another way of saying thank you.”

Anyone wanting to sponsor Fiona can contact her by mail at Two Cottages, Stelling Farm, Newton, Stocksfield, Northumberland, NE43 7UU.