HEALTH &WELLBEING
Time for Toni to look forward
Three weeks after her 28th birthday, mother-of-two Toni Dagnall suffered her second debilitating stroke in two months. Toni had previously served in the RAF (along with husband Gary) and was acommunication systems project manager atMODCorsham when she had her first stroke in March 2008.
Now with an improved medical prognosis and practical help from the RAF Association, Toni can do agreat deal more to look after herself,her family and her home, thanks to agrant towards vital alterations.
The future looks brighter,but it took time to come to terms with her first stroke. “It happened one evening and my face went numb. It was all abit of ablur after that.”
Toni thought she would be back at work in days and that people understood when she spoke, though her words made no sense. Toni and Gary’s daughter and son, then aged nine and seven, also struggled to understand what had happened to their mum.
Toni’s speech seems fine now but the strokes left her with no feeling down
raf-ff.org.uk
her left side, poor balance, mobility issues, aphasia and dysphasia (struggling to find the right word or using the wrong word), memory problems, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) and chronic pain in muscles and nerves where she otherwise has no feeling. Doctors investigating why such ayoung woman should suffer strokes discovered apreviously undiagnosed hole in her heart. After asuccessful operation, the prognosis for avoiding further strokes is good.
But the family’s terraced house in Bristol proved challenging, and amove to be closer to her own extended family led them to Lancashire. The house seemed more suitable, but the tiny downstairs bathroom had no room for awheelchair, so constant falls often sent Toni back to hospital, and she suffered burns cooking in the unsuitable kitchen.
Toni and Gary’s daughter had been diagnosed with Asperger’s, chronic depression and psychosis, so kitchen sharps as well as Toni’s powerful medication had to be put into boxes and locked in the car,because there was nowhere else secure.
Acouncil grant application for home adaptations proved adead end when the local council asked for a£75,500 contribution. But several friends suggested the Association and Gary,with 23 years’ RAF service, was already amember.
The Association sent an occupational therapist, and an Association Welfare Officer applied for agrant from the RAF Benevolent Fund for Toni, to make the house safer and easier to live and work in.
Improvements included an enlarged, disabled friendly bathroom, new kitchen with lowered oven and easy-to-open cupboards and drawers, lowered, larger light switches and widened, repositioned doors.
“It’s so much easier,” beams Toni. “The improvements have made amassive difference –and Ihaven’t fallen over in the bathroom since they’ve been done.”
This is just one example of how the RAF Association helps members of the RAF
family.Byjoining the Association, you can help us to be there for people like Toni and her
family.Simply visit
rafa.org.uk/ join to find out how.
Autumn 2016 39
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