Just pasted the 4 year maek, since I entered this crazy amazing world.

On Wedneday the 26 th September it was four years ago that I entered the world I now live in along with my family. It seems a world away from where I t today, I lay in a Coma on life support in Dunedin Hospital[s Intensive Care Unit this time four years ago with my life very much in the balances. Every hour my lungs had to be drained due to huge amounts of liquid building up on them,. I stayed in that Coma for three weeks and my family were advised to make preparations to say Farewell to me,due to so many people praying for me, the amazing grace of my Heavenly Father and the amazing efforts of the medical staff at Dunedin Hospitals ICY, I am here today and having made some awesome gains.

Following the Coma due to being stuck down by Meningitis, I was laft paralyzed from the waist down, also had differculty with my left arm at the time and the series of Strokes that I had while in the Coma left my left side of my body a lot weaker than my right side. Along with this I was also left deaf and bling clinically and confined to a wheelchair, although that took time to eventuale as I was confinded to a bed for quite sometime to start wit.  Communication was very challenging back thenusing a series of foam letters that people would hand me to make up words.To begin with I couldn’t even communicate myself as I had breathing tubes going directly into my throat as my mouth and throat were so badly swollen. If I needed to communicate with anyone at that point they would give me a pad and a pen and I wrote on it. From that they could see that I had good spelling and my brain although pretty rocked around by what it had been through was ok. I also had a jet engine in my head with Titinius that I lived with day and night until I iad the implant operation on the 26 September one year later in 2009 and then the Coclea attached and switched on in early November 2009 which helped reduce that noise. There is much that I could write about those  early days, many people to thank for such amazing kindness.Our world as a family was rocked to the core and turned upside down andshacken for all it was worth. I was not a pretty sight in those earlier days,, lost all the life in my facial muscles, had a scary as voice. The kids used to say I sounded like a troll. Enough said, today I celebrate the love and devotion of my amazing as family for hanging in there with me, believing against all odds and never letting go of that small glimmer of hope. In the book of Hebrews in the Bible it says; “Snd hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor to our souls, connecting us to God Himself behind the sacred curtains of heaven,”We have found that verse to be total truth and our God has slowly but surely helped restore the broken and shattered pieces of our lives. It has taken a lot of hard out work I might add as He has extended His grace more and more. I said to God right back in the early days not knowing at all what I or the family were in for, that I would give it my very best shot, work as hard as I could and if it took me out as a result, so be it. But God has a plan and a purpose in everything and as muvh as  I have struggled majorily at times, physically, mentally, emotionally and even spiritually, I can look back and see the amazing hand of an amazing God on my life and my families. You will have read many of the updates that I have done at times and have an idea of the gains that I have made in the past four years and will continue to make by Gods amazing grace.

I have known  what it is to have no strength at all, physically, mentally, emotionally and even spiritually at times, but when I am weak He makes me strong and His giory can be displayed the most.Faith in my Heavenly Father is a massive part of my journey and I would not be here today without Him that’s for sure. As a celebration of four years up, Julia and I shared a special lunch together, later in the day I walked at my set of parallel bars setup in our garage 125 time forwards and backwards which is the most I have done at anyone time at the bars, later in the evening I did an hour and a half on my You bike which I have just clocked up 330 km’s on in just under two weeks of having it dropped off.  Before I sign off, I always had a favourite song from the day I bowed my knee and accepted the Lord Jesus as my personal Lord and Saviour, I never relised how massive an impact the words of that song would play out in my life, here they are;

“Jesusj, lover of my soul, Jesus I will never let you go, You’ve taken me from the mirey clay, set my feet upon a rock and now I know, I love you, I need you, Though my world may fall I’ll never let you go, My Saviour , my dearest friend, I will worship you until the very end.

 

Kind regards,

 

Phil Thorn

Don't forget to check out my blog phillywonka.blogspot.com

 

'To achieve great things you not only need to act but also dream,

you not only need to plan but also believe'

 

Re Facebook, please bear with me.

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Phil Thorn

Don't forget to check out my blog phillywonka.blogspot.com

 

'To achieve great things you not only need to act but also dream,

you not only need to plan but also believe'

Hi everyone out there,

I’m assuming that you are still all out there as I haven’t seen or hear you for quite awhile, something strange has taken ahod of me and I find myself crooping around in the dark with noises I am trying to figure out. Get with reality man, what are you on this morning, seems that I have been sniffing to much clean fresh air with all the lovely weather we have had lately and my rancslider door often found wide open to embrace as muvh of it as I possibly can.

Anyway, just letting you all know that I have signed up with Facebook under my name and I have alredy received a number of notifications re people wishing to be my friend, so I am feeling very loved today. Please bear with me as I am learning the ropes and it will possibly a littlw while before I get to grips with how it all works. I plan to do an entry or What’s on my mind update possibly later today on Facebook and I have asked a friend, “found a few of them and had to pay them to be my friend, yeah right
 to help me with loading some photos on to my page, so hopefully very soon. I will also update you on both this Blog and Facebook re new technology I have been working with and hopefully will be up graded to prior to Christmas, plus lots of other suuff that is happening in my world and my families as well.

Thanks for thinking of me, praying for me and connecting with me. My God is so big, so strong and so mighty there’s nothing my God cannot do, the mountains are His, the valleys are His, the whole world is under His smile, My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing my God cannot do, that’s true, for you. So you better believe it and continue trusting Him for whatever you are working through at present, never, never stop believing that He can do more than you can ask or even inmagine in your life and through you life if you will only hang in ther with Him.

You bike.

www.youbike.co.nz

Towards the end of 2008 as I lay on my bed in the rehab centre in Dunedin following being stuck down with Meningitis on the 26 September which left me both deaf and blind along with being paralyzed from the st down, I was trying to work out how I could get my legs moving again. As I tere, I came up with the idea of a bed bike, I said to myself,,, “my arms are still working erill, why can’t I use them to somehow propel my legi around”and so I dreamt up a ststem where by a hand bike was connected to feet pedals via a belt driven system.

I asked the Physio’s in the GYM at the rehab centre if there was anything like this around that I could possible get my hands on, they said there was nothting like that around. When my brother Clem came to visit me from Wellington, I told him about my idea and asked him if he could build me one, he went away and got a mate to build one in his garage and had it sent down in bits to reassembled when he next visited me several months later. It was a pretty mbasic setup and with the help of staff at the centre they managed to get me into it as my poor legs were so heavy and stiff and achy. Well I managed to get it working and for a short while it worked very well but I broke the Velcro straps holding my feet in place within a short time.

Well since that day till now, there have been a further three more bikes designed and built till the one we currently hve now. It has been refined by a number of engineers and had input form a number of people within the rehabilitation sector. The be now can be used in a wheelchair of on a bed, has adjustable height, a built in computer for read outs. My brother entered it into a competition here in Wellington caleed; “Grow Wellington”and this was for home made inventions, there were 1500 entries and the You bike made it into the top 50 inventions. It was originally nick named; “The Phil bike”.

In a few weeks time it is to be showcased to the world at an expo for rehabilitation in Germany, from there it makes it’s way to the USiK to be showcased to a large GYM franchise and from there to LA to be shown to another franchise. It is an incredible story suuounding the whole design and development and my brother Clem deserves a lot of credit for believing firstly in the idea and taking it to where it now sits. I believe the idea came from my Heavinly Father as there is nothing around like it at all. There is something a little similar, but requires two people to set it up and weights 52 kg’s. Check out the websie I have put on this blog and make your own mind up about it.I cant wait to hear some of the stories that will come as a result of people using it and the impact it will have on their bodies. Not only will it be a great tool for people in wheelchairs and the likes, but also for sports people recoverying from injuries and even for general exercise as it really give you a great all body workout.

 

Kind regards,

 

Phil Thorn

Don't forget to check out my blog phillywonka.blogspot.com

 

'To achieve great things you not only need to act but also dream,

you not only need to plan but also believe'

 

My dream of riding the Great Lake circuit.

Just recently, we came to know one of our beighbours who has moved here recently from Nelson with his wife so as to be nearer their daughters. One of his daughters pasted onto him a copy of the article that was done on us as a family re the Open Day for our new home. He also Googled my name along with Hutt City and read up about my story, all of this rrally impacted him and as a result he has connected with us and is now a major supporter to me. He even came across with character references for himself and references that we could contact should we so desire which is totally out standing of him.

He found out about a dream that I have always had tucked away in the back of my mind for sometime in the future and he too has always wanted to do the same thing, that is to enter the cycle ride around the great lake. Lake Taupo in the centre of the north island of New Zealand held each year in November, the ride is 160 km’s and we are planning on entering next years fide using a low rider tandem bike. My new riding partner Neil, now comes to the GYM almost every day of the week to workout with me and also to assist me as and when needed.

Several weeks ago we cisited the Avanti guy in Levin who deigns and builds these low riders for disabled people, they are amazing bikes to say the least. The ones that he designs and builds sit about 100 mm abve the ground, are 700 mm wide and are 3.5 metres long with #ea7 speeds and are designed for the person at the front to steer and pedal with their feet and the person in the rear to pedal with their hands. He also designs them with an electric motor if so desired, so if you run out of steam, you can flick the motor on and be propelled along, I said we won’t need that but we could use the motor to power a small fridge for a few cold drinks along the way. I have always been keen to do the ride using both my arms and legs, the Avanti guy had never designed a bke to allow one to ride like this but is keen on the challenge and says it can be done.

We are now in the process of endeavouring to fundraise for this bike as you  realize they ar,’t the chepest, but so worth it as he is going to design this one so as our kids can also use it and ride with me and it will also be able to be used on a beach with extra wheels that can be fitted.

Ther is now a dream team as I have nicknamed them setup to make this dream a reality and to fundraise, one event already planned is a movie fundraiser in December for the feature presentation of The Hobbitt that Peter Jackson and his team have been working on the past two or so years, there will be spot prizes at this event. A DVD of the journey that I am on will be shown, plus a speech from myself as well. I will post details re the event on my Blog very soon should you be interested in purchasing tickets to this. My riding partner is also taking footage of morkout that I am doing in the GYM and once the bike arrives hopefully around Christmas time, footage of us training together on it using the river trails.

Due to my hearing re conversation still needing more gains, we will be working on an idea of seting up a touch pad on the steering bars at the front and I will have pads attached to certain areas of my body that a pulse can be sent to indicating the need for braking, free wheeling, etc. The plan is to create a film with all the footage taken prior to the ride and the ride itself and the final 100 metres of the ride as I over take Neil on the homeward straight and hopefully put together a motivational film.

Very soon a page is too be setup on Facebook to cover the journey from here on in with the design and build of the bike, training, fundraising, etc, so I will post details on my Blog as soon as we have this in place.

This ride is a way for me to return and give glory to my amazing Heavenly Father for all that He has and continues to do for me and my family.

The following year being 2014, I am planning a bigger ride, this will be from Cape Reinga in the north, to Bluff in the south, I plan to raise up a team of support riders who will partner with me for certain legs of the journey as I make my way south. I have already had people say they are keen as to be a rider and sone of you maybe keen as well so let me know a little closer to the time.

I plan to do this ride as a way of bringing more awareness to Meningitis and its affects and also to fundraise for research and development of potential cures for the desease. I would like to end up in Dunedin at the ISIS rehabilitation centre where it pretty much all started from.

You maybe keen as well of know people who would be keen to assist along the journey with accommodation for the riding team and suppoet crew travvelling along with me, so again please let me know. I will be posting details on my Blog of the contact person for all the arrangements re this planned venture, so keep an eye out.

The You bike that I now have setup in my studio is going to play a huge role in my training se,sions for these rides and helping to build my trunk and hip muscles up. In my next Blog I will broing you up to speed with the You bike and details of where you can check it out further should you so desire.,

 

Kind regards,

 

Phil Thorn

Don't forget to check out my blog phillywonka.blogspot.com

 

'To achieve great things you not only need to act but also dream,

you not only need to plan but also believe'

 

Update as of September 2012

Been a little while since I sent an update, apologies for that as life seems to get busier and busier.

I am continuing to make good as gains with my body as I press on with my rehab programme and continue to believe good things are instore for the future for the family and me. We are now well and truly settled into our lovely new home after moving in at the beginning of June. You will see some updated photos of the house since moving in on my Blog. The freedom that comes with this amazing home, is truly awesome, I am free to move about as I wish in and around the house and the family are free to come and go as they need to as well with the aid of a call button that I wear on a chain should I need help or in an emergency it connects with the duty manager at Laura Fergusson Community. I now also have a cane to assist me with navigating my way around the home and I have also learnt the route from home to the GYM at Laura Fergusson which I attend most days and I navigate my way there on my own using my cane. It is around 100 metres across to the GYM from our place, up quite a rise and along the board walk following the garden. I have also learnt how to navigate my way across to the new Abilities Hub Complex using my cane and in the process of learning more routes as well, so one day I can escape.

In the GYM I now am walking at point eight of a kmph on the treadmill on the rise and fall mode and did forty minutes straight  the other day. It was just over a year ago that I started using the treadmill and managed five minutes on flat mode at point four of a kmph and had to stop at least three of four times in that five minutes for a rest, so some big ground has been made. I do an extensive amount of work around balance these days at the parallel bars on the wobbly board, steps, Swiss ball, mat work, etc. I also put in hours and hours every week at home as well, getting up most mornings around six am or earlier to do a workout prior to breakie, becaue I heard that the early bird catches the worms and I am keen as to catch any worms I can. I now have my own You bike in my studio”I will go into detail in my next blog abou the You bike”and I have been doing two or more hours a day on it, this past week I have pedaled just over 200 km’s on it using my arms and legs. It is my p;an to start venturing out again very soon using my walker as people are avvvailable to walk with me.

Re my technology, I am currently working with my tutor from the Blind Foundation on learning how to use the internet so I can become a competent surfer, I now read news from the NZ Herald site, I have learnt how to access the NZ radio guide so I can check out radio stations to have playing on my laptop so as to help my hearing skills with the Cochlea implant, I can Google stuff, so watch out, I might Google your name. I am about to learn how to use internet banking and also how to use Facebook and setting up my own page, so if you are keen, I can chat via Facebool real soon. I am desperately in need of having my equipment upgraded which the Blind Foundation are endeavouring to do for me at present, a new laptop of my own with a Braille input output Bluetooth display with a Jaws screen reader programme, also my Braillenote has pretty much croacked it and last week I was trialing the latest Braillenote Apex with an I phone. The Apex are neat little units, a lot more simline than my older model and half the weight, builtin wireless, with a list as long as your arm of features. All going well, I wil have one of these with an I phone prior to Christmas and I am so excited about that as I will have the ability to text whoever, not like my current unit and a portable unit that I can email from, access the net from and prepare documents from along with having a”Face to face conversation”with anyone via a small keyboard they type to me on and I read of the Braille display. If you are keen to kearn a little more about these Brailebote units, etc, you can visit Humanwares website; “www.humanware.co.nz

 

Kind regards,

 

Phil Thorn

Don't forget to check out my blog phillywonka.blogspot.com

 

'To achieve great things you not only need to act but also dream,

you not only need to plan but also believe'