Melton couple’s strokes prompt fundraiser for ‘fantastic’ medical team

Tony Postle was rushed to Leicester Royal Infirmary on October 23 after having a stroke at home and just two months later an ambulance had to be called for his wife, Glenice, for the same condition.

Their son Gary was so grateful for the care given to his parents he and other family members have organised a fundraising run on Easter Sunday which will retrace the 20-mile route taken by the ambulances between their home and the city hospital.

Gary (53) told the Melton Times: “It was a massive shock when my dad had his stroke in October because he had always been the active one, the fit one of the two.

“The tables turned in that my mum was suddenly the healthy one and then the week before Christmas my mum had a stroke.

“It’s been quite tough but my dad said the stroke care team had been brilliant with them.

“The care they’ve given my parents has been absolutely fantastic to the point where we want to give something back with this fundraising effort.”

Tony (77) is well known to many in the town for the many years he spent with the local Scouting network - he was group scout leader of the 4th Melton and also district commissioner.

He spent the whole of his working life working for the MOD at Old Dalby and when the base closed and became a business park he carried on being site manager right up until his stroke.

Glenice, who is 75 and has been married to Tony for more than 50 years, worked for many years in the canteen at Melton’s Pedigree Petfoods factory.

They both have differing symptoms following their strokes, Tony still has a numbness down his left side and Glenice has short-term memory loss and impaired vision.

Both are grateful for the treatment they have had from the infirmary’s stroke team and the Early Supported Discharge Service (ESDS).

They were given implements, which involve putting pegs in holes and which helped improve their dexterity after losing the feeling in their fingers.

There is a shortage of this equipment, however, so Gary and his family plan to buy more of them for the hospital with the money they raise.

An online fundraising page has already passed the £1,000 mark ahead of the gruelling run, which will start at the city hospital and finish at Tony and Glenice’s Hunt Drive home in Melton.

Gary, a former Stilton Striders member and a veteran of two London Marathons, says he is training well after recovering from a foot injury.

He is grateful to everyone who has sponsored him so far.

He said: “The last four miles will probably be the most difficult because we’ve got to head through Asfordby Hill and then the road into Melton, which will be a bit lumpy.

“Other family members have said they want to take part and some will be running short sections to support me, including my wife, Amy.”

Gary, who is sales director at Holwell Works and a former pupil at Swallowdale, Sarson and King Edward VII Schools, expects to complete the run in three hours.

Go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/stridesforstrokerecovery to sponsor Gary and family members for their fundraising run.