Find out how The Fire Fighters Charity has supported beneficiaries across the UK and how you can share your story with the fire community. Click categories or regions below to filter the list of stories.
Realising recovery from surgery couldn't be an overnight fix was the biggest lesson Sheffield Crew Manager Paul Holbrook took away from his time with The Fire Fighters Charity. That and how much he appreciated having his family around him to cheer him on. Chris Morrison is on a mission to prove that having a colostomy bag is not life-inhibiting. So much so, the Northern Irish temporary Watch Commander is trekking the Sahara Desert this autumn, to raise money for the Charity as a way of saying thank you for helping him with his recovery. When Peter Miles was invited to spend time at Jubilee House to help him with post-illness-and-surgery recovery he had no idea he would also experience a 'eureka moment' about his own mental health battles as well. For someone who was told he would never walk again, watching Bob Stovell walk through the woods with his daughter, Jo, is a pretty special sight. As the cover stars of our Spring issue of Shout! magazine, the pair tell us about the accident that changed their family's lives, and how the Charity supported them in the years that followed. Only a few hours into his stag do in Magaluf in the summer of 2016, the course of James Thorpe’s life was altered in just a few seconds when he ran into the sea, fell, and broke his neck. Here, the former London and Norfolk firefighter shares his story. As a word of warning, some readers may find the account of his accident distressing.
Paul: “I realised recovery isn’t an overnight thing.”
Chris: “You helped me realise having a stoma isn’t the end of the world”
Peter: “I realised I thought I was broken”
Bob and Jo Stovell: “The Charity put a spark back into my Dad”
James: “You don’t think you’ll ever need help. I certainly never thought I would.”
