It's the ticking timebomb which can go off at any time - and a miracle Hartlepool man has joined the campaign to raise awareness

Ged Hall, 67, a Hartlepool Borough Councillor, spoke to the Hartlepool Mail today to reflect on the amazing progress he has made since he was found at his home in 2013.

He suffered a brain clot at around 7.30am on Friday, July 12, and spent the next 36 hours drifting in and out of consciousness.

As he tried to dial for help from someone he knew, he accidentally dialled the home telephone number of a woman who he had never met before.

An instinct told her she should ring the police. They broke down the door at Ged’s home where they found Coun Hall unconscious.

He was rushed to the James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, where doctors performed surgery. Three operations followed during a three-month stay in hospital which included five days in intensive care.

Experts found that Ged had an AVM, which is the same condition which led to the collapse of fellow Hartlepool resident Jade Henderson, 23 whose story the Mail has highlighted this month.

Jade was a healthy 22-year-old when she went for a night out with friends in Sunderland and South Tyneside. But within minutes of meeting her pals in Hebburn, she collapsed in the street and was rushed to hospital with ‘a ticking timebomb’ brain bleed inside her head.

She fought for life in a coma for ten days with doctors telling her mother Sharon Henderson, 50, that Jade probably would not survive.

Jade, now 23, is receiving treatment after she was found to have an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) which disrupts blood flow and oxygen circulation.

Experts have since discovered that Jade has three more AVMs which need careful treatment and monitoring to get rid of them.

Just this week, Jade had the latest stage of her treatment which was gamma knife radiation treatment at Sheffield Hallamshire Hospital.

The treatment uses small gamma rays to deliver a precise dose of radiation to a target. A frame was attached to Jade’s head with screws to stabilise the head during the procedure which targeted Jade’s remaining AVMs.

She needs to have angiograms every six months for four years to check on her progress and after those four years, she will hopefully get the news that the treatment has completely worked.

For Ged, though, he has already come through his treatment and his life has returned to normal. He urged people to be as aware as they can of AVMs and spoke out during AVM Awareness Month.

"In my case, there was no warnings. I sat up in bed and heard the rush of blood from right to left,” he said.

“Through my life, I was conscious about a "heartbeat" in my head. It wasn't a pain or discomfort, it was there.

“When I woke up in hospital, the so called "heartbeat" disappeared so if anybody has a presence in your brain, check it out.”

He added: “If one person looks at this and gets it checked out, it will have been worth it.”

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