Snooker Goths

Well, it’s certainly been a while since I posted anything here. I thought I’d give a long overdue update, as something quite serious happened to me recently, and writing about it might help to make more sense of it.

In December, I attended the German masters and World Open qualifiers at Ponds Forge. I went alone, as Manda was too tired from having done the Shootout and Scottish Open the week before. It was behind closed doors, but some players had very kindly said they would sign me in each day (always grateful, of course). From the beginning of the week, I was feeling under the weather, thinking it was some kind of flu. I couldn’t eat properly and was having trouble sleeping as well. As the week went on, I felt worse and worse, thinking it was pneumonia, and on the Friday I (apparently, as I can’t remember doing it) texted Manda in the afternoon, saying that II couldn’t carry on at the qualifiers anymore and would be going back to the hotel and coming home the next day.

Saturday morning comes. Manda and I have a code – I will text her first in the morning, and she will text me last at night. She hadn’t heard from me that morning, so texted me – no reply. She rang twice – no reply. It was at that point she got concerned, and rang the Travelodge to ask to check on me. Which they did – and found me collapsed on the floor by the bed. I was, apparently, conscious at this point, but things looked incredibly bad. The Travelodge staff rang for an ambulance, and I was taken to the Critical Care Unit at Sheffield Northern General Hospital.

Manda came up to Sheffield to see me the next day, and stayed for ten days, visiting me every day bar one (including Christmas Day). I have no memory of this or, indeed, of being in the CCU at all, as I was under heavy sedation and in an induced coma. They apparently would occasionally wake me up to see if I would respond to commands, which I did. At one point on New Year’s Eve, I wasn’t waking up, so they were going to take me to have an MRI – and then I woke up, 45 minutes before Manda had to leave for London. (I always was awkward.) I could hear her voice at points when I was out of it, but she appeared to me in my dreams as a nurse with perfectly manicured eyebrows, and red and black hair. I specifically remember her telling me, for some reason, that Alfie Burden had beaten Stephen Maguire in the World Open qualifiers (why I specifically remembered this bit, I don’t know!). I had some VERY odd dreams while I was out, most of which I can’t remember now.

I came round properly on the 13th January, where I had been transferred to Vickers 2 ward to recover. with the staff’s help, I pieced together what had happened – I had collapsed with diabetic ketoacidosis, and had also had a chest infection and sepsis. Nasty! Apparently, had it been another half an hour before they discovered me, I likely wouldn’t have made it. I somehow made it out alive and with all my faculties intact, although initially I had no voice as I’d been intubated (I still have a bit of a hoarse voice and can’t sing properly!). I was in Vickers for another three weeks, and then was able to be taken to my local hospital, Basildon, one Sunday by an ambulance crew. I stayed in Basildon for a mere three days before coming home. People were amazed at how quickly I was recovering – I put this down to having a pretty strong immune system, thankfully.

I have now been home for just over three weeks, and I’m still tired and a bit weak, but improving every day. I am immensely grateful to everyone who I encountered (whether conscious or unconscious) for saving my life and looking after me. Thank You cards have been sent out to everyone! I’m especially grateful to Manda, of course, as she got the ball rolling in the first place ❤️

I have taken this as a wake-up call to treat my diabetes properly. Beforehand, I pretty much ignored the fact I’m diabetic, and would stuff junk food in my ace at a rate of knots, including tons of chocolate. Ever since being in hospital, I have not had one sweet thing unless it’s sugar-free (Mentos and Werthers do good sugar-free options) and have been testing my blood sugar regularly and taking newly-prescribed insulin. It’s my aim to get off insulin as soon as I can so I can start giving blood again.

This will of course impact on how much snooker we can go to in the future, as I need to have a stricter regime from now on, but hopefully we can still come along. The snooker world has become family.

Thank you for reading.