Man who suffered devastating brain haemorrhage proposes to his girlfriend without using words
'As I came over he pulled out the little black box with this big smile on his face,' fiancée Tess Delony said
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Your support makes all the difference.Sam Hensman, a 25-year-old who suffered a brain haemorrhage, has proposed to his girlfriend Tess Delony with a big smile.
Two years ago, Sam, from Adelaide, Australia was diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation (AVM), a condition where abnormal and poorly formed blood vessels knot in the brain and cause damage when they bleed.
Girlfriend Tess waited beside him during his 10 months in Flinders hospital, South Australia over a year ago after Sam had been told that his condition would continue to decline.
Sam proposed with an amethyst ring on Saturday and Tess said yes.
“As I came over he pulled out the little black box with this big smile on his face,” Tess told Australian news organisation nine.com.au on Wednesday.
“I started to get a bit teary because he couldn't say, 'Will you marry me?,' but the amethyst meant everything. He pulled me in for a hug and I said, 'Yes' - it was really special."
Sam had previously been studying to become an electrician and suffered a seizure while at his partner’s home. The major haemorrhage occurred just days before a surgery in which neurosurgeon Dr Nazih Assaad had planned to remove the growth to avoid further damage to the brain.
When the AVM was removed after undergoing two further rounds of surgery which lasted for nine and 14 hours respectively, Sam awoke to find he had lost mobility and speech.
"We couldn't believe he was still alive,” said Sam’s sister Prue Cartledge.
"Mum said she lost count of the number of times she was told her Sam was going to die. One of the doctors said to their staff, 'No one survives four brain haemorrhages' but Sam is a bit of a miracle,” Prue added.
"So many pathways in his brain were damaged by the haemorrhages and surgery he has had to learn all the basic skills again."
After making slow progress Sam has been able to teach himself to walk again. He has slowly regained muscle tissue and can now also communicate using an iPad.
"He… understands everything. We expect there to be some damage to his memory but he has a good understanding of what is going on,” Prue added.
Sam persistently started pointing to his mother Pam’s wedding ring and when she realised that he wanted to propose to Tess, Sam was “so relieved,” Prue explained.
Tess said: “I would never wish this whole experience on anyone but it really does connect you in a way that not a lot of other people would get to experience - that's what makes it really special.”
Sam’s family and friends have raised more than $15,000 to aid his rehabilitation through a GoFundMe page to help with his medical expenses.
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