Distressing news about my friend Helen.

I am hoping that some of Helen's blog readers will be reading this post. As you will know if you have been following Helen's Haven, she and her husband Ray have been in Western Australia, and as of yesterday were driving through a remote area of that state. Ray phoned me tonight (Monday) at 11 pm to tell me that Helen was in the Royal Perth Hospital. She suffered a stroke yesterday, which has left her partially paralysed on one side and with limited speech. She was flown to Perth by the Royal Flying Doctor Service. I am absolutely devastated. She had a mild stroke about two years ago, but recovered well from that, and has been under medical supervision since then. She has not been well recently, and before they went away, she confided that her health issues have been getting her down lately. She is usually so ebullient, as anyone who has met her will know.

Poor Ray is stuck in a motel room in Perth, on the other side of this continet on his own. I asked if Helen could be flown back to a Melbourne hospital, and he said not for a while, as she is too ill to move. Their older son volunteered to fly over to keep Ray company, but he said there's not much point as there is nothing they can do except wait. I am going to send flowers to her by Interflora tomorrow, so if anyone reading this has a message they would like to pass on, I will do my best to see that it is included or passed on to the hospital.