Live wire Boston councillor, 81, makes miraculous recovery from paralysing stroke
Thrill-seeking borough councillor Richard Austin is back to business and describing himself as “supercharged” just a few weeks after suffering a stroke which left him needing a two-and-a-half-hour operation. The 81-year-old Wyberton councillor suffered multiple haemorrhages and surgeons had to operate on his neck to open up his carotid artery to improve the flow of blood to…
Richard Austin gives a thumbs-up as he celebrates his 80th birthday with a sky dive.
Thrill-seeking borough councillor Richard Austin is back to business and describing himself as “supercharged” just a few weeks after suffering a stroke which left him needing a two-and-a-half-hour operation.
The 81-year-old Wyberton councillor suffered multiple haemorrhages and surgeons had to operate on his neck to open up his carotid artery to improve the flow of blood to his brain.
Richard is known for his big-adrelanine lifestyle and he celebrated his 80th birthday with a skydive.
Richard Austin back on terra firma with his tandem-jump partner.
He was working at home on his i-Pad when he collapsed to the floor after getting up from his desk.
He said at first he couldn’t understand why his left leg would not work and then thought he may have suffered a stroke when he found he could not move his left arm either.
Fortunately his wife, Alison, a borough and county councillor, was at home and called for an ambulance.
“If it had been the day before I could be in a wheelchair now,” said Richard. “I had been at home alone all day working in the garden.”
He had been instructed to continue talking throughout the operation as surgeons opened up his neck and artery.
“With the anaesthetic it was like trying to talk when your mouth has been frozen at the dentists. I bored the nurses to death talking about my family, my life story, my passions, the church, Boston Woods, the Boston marathon which I chair and the history of Boston. I didn’t quite get to the end of everything I had in mind,” he joked.
He praised the surgeons and staff at the Pilgrim, who he said were marvellous. “They have improved the blood flow to my brain, so now I am supercharged,” he said.
After a four-day stay in hospital, and a 28-day driving ban, he has been declared fighting fit and is back to normal, with just a fading telltale scar down the side of his neck.
“My stroke came on very suddenly, but it demonstrates that when this happens and a stroke is suspected, you don’t hang around. This is a 999 emergency because time is of the essence. I was very lucky.”
Spotted an error? Please notify us by selecting that text and pressing Ctrl+Enter.
The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.
The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.
Historian Dan Snow will retell the story of the famous 1943 Dambusters raid in a three-part documentary on Channel 5 airing this week.
Operation Chastise was an attack on German dams carried out on May 16-17, 1943 by the Royal Air Force 617 Squadron, later called The Dambusters, using a purpose-built ‘bouncing bomb’.
The opening episode of ‘The Dambusters’ airs at 9pm on Tuesday, December 1 and sees Dan travel around Lincolnshire airfields speaking about the inception of the RAF’s 617 Squadron, which was led by Commander Guy Gibson.
The episode focuses on the recruitment and training of the airmen for the mission, with Commander Gibson given just eight weeks to put together a crew able to fly at low altitudes at night, as well as the development of the bouncing bomb.
Episode two and three air on the following two nights, on Wednesday and Thursday (December 2 and 3) respectively.
An historic Steep Hill shop will be turned into a home.
The store was formerly Tasty Vintage but closed in September 18. The owner continues to trade as an online outlet, however, the property has been marketed as is for six months without success.
The City of Lincoln Council planning officers gave Mr S Ulph permission to amalgamate the former vintage clothes shop at number 9 into the rest of the residential property on the upper two floors.
The ground floor, which was subject to the application, includes the shop, a storage room, kitchen and toilet.
Documents submitted to the council said the shop “could be used as an entrance hall with a home office or reception space behind.
“The main habitable living, kitchen, dining and bedrooms could all be situated at first floor level potentially with a bedroom to the rear of the property, which is quieter,” they said.
Mr Ulph’s agents, Brown & Co said the proposal had “no impact” on the heritage and met planning policies.
The proposed plans for the building.
Mr Ulph plans to make no changes to the exterior of the building, just “minor refurbishment works” internally.
They include new shutters to give the owners privacy when using the front room.
The rear of the property.
The three-storey building is Grade II listed and was built in the first half of the 19th Century, initially owned by William Vickers, a builder.
Officers gave the go ahead to the proposals on Friday.
There are currently 248 COVID-19 positive inpatients in hospitals run by United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust.
This is a slight increase from the 238 confirmed on November 25 by the trust, which runs Lincoln County Hospital, Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, Grantham and District Hospital and County Hospital Louth.
There was some positive news on Monday after it was revealed that 740 patients have been discharged from the trust’s hospitals after recovering from coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust said that as of Monday morning it has 163 patients with coronavirus.
This breaks down as 71 at Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby, 87 at Scunthorpe General Hospital and five at Goole and District Hospital.
Of these, nine are in ICU, with six at Grimsby and three at Scunthorpe.
The Lincolnite also contacted Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS) and Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT) for their latest data, but there was no reply by the time of publication.
Whatsapp
