'I feel 10 years younger after emergency surgery relieved pressure on my brain': Welsh town mayor returns to work after brain surgery

The 72 year-old mayor of Knighton had been suffering blinding headaches since September 1 and also noticed the strength in his right arm was poor, he lost dexterity in his right hand, his right leg was dragging and he was struggling to speak to people.

Initially prescribed painkillers which eased the headaches but did not stop them, Tom returned to the doctors for various tests and scans but nothing appeared to be wrong.

But as he made his way to Gloucestershire to visit family he received a call from the doctor telling him to go immediately to a major hospital – he had a bleed on the brain and the fluid was shutting down the left side of his brain.

“I was not really scared, I was just aware that something was wrong. The doctor thought I was at home but I was in Gloucestershire so she suggested going to Cheltenham. But there is a direct train to Hereford and I thought it would be easier for my son who lives in Wrexham and others to visit me, so I got the train to Hereford.

“At Hereford A and E they did all the tests and put me on a ward and said I would be going to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham but there were no beds. So I stayed in Hereford for five nights under observation and then early on Sunday, November 16 an ambulance came to take me to Birmingham.”

Tom said there were lots of emergencies in Birmingham and he was stable so it was on Tuesday, November 18 at about 5.30pm that he was taken into the operating theatre.

“The operation involved drilling two holes in my head to drain the fluid and flush it out. They said the fluid was not recent and it could have been forming for weeks or possibly even a few years. 

“But they were almost certain that it was caused by a bang to the head.”

Tom said he has had several falls but in July or August he did notice he was getting a bit wobbly and he fell and hit his head on the skirting board, losing consciousness temporarily, as he went to the toilet at night.

Just about 36 hours after his brain surgery Tom was discharged and asked if he wanted an ambulance to bring him home to Knighton.

He refused and instead caught the train.

“I am well, I am a lot brighter, it’s amazing and a wonderful transformation and I feel 10 years younger,” said Tom, who has wasted no time getting back to his mayoral role attending a staff retirement and the town’s Christmas lights switch-on event in the first two days.

“The headaches were debilitating. At first I thought it was stress because when I left the September town council meeting early because I felt ill, the headache cleared, but things got worse.

“I was having trouble talking to people. Usually when I go to the pub I talk to everyone but I was sitting by the heater with my pint hardly speaking to anyone – it was changing my personality.

“I have to say the NHS is an absolutely precious thing and we should just fund it and accept that it costs money.

“It looks after a lot of people at birth, through childhood and growing up, then many people may not use it for 40 or 50 years but then as we get older we have new knees, hips or brain surgery. 

“I am amazed at what they did for me and being in hospital and seeing what goes on and the people that work there, they do 12 hour shifts and care for so many people and are so thorough.

“It has really opened my eyes to how wonderful the NHS is. Their work has allowed me to undergo a wonderful transformation and carry on with my life.”