THANK GOODNESS FOR ELSIE AND TOM …

The day before her 42nd birthday marketing dynamo Emma Pratt’s world came crashing down when she collapsed in her front garden in front of her nine-year-old son.

“I managed to get the security code to unlock my phone and Tom called the ambulance,” she recalls. “At hospital it took them four days to discover I’d had a stroke after they found a clot on my brain, I couldn’t walk, talk or see. That was how I lived for the next few months.”

Luckily Emma received physio very early on and, along with the love and support of her family, she began the long and painful road back to recovery.

“The physio department started by getting me to learn how to put plasticine into a cup. I was fully aware but couldn’t communicate with anyone and my balance was bad. I had to walk with a Zimmer frame and learn how to use a toothbrush again. I once stabbed myself in the face with a fork as I couldn’t coordinate my eyes and movements. It was pretty tough on my husband and particularly on our children, Elsie and Tom. But they looked after me and helped enormously.”

For her marketing agency though, it spelled the beginning of the end as it she couldn’t maintain it after her stroke.

TOP OF THE CLASS!

l To find out more go to: elsieandtom.co.uk Local stockists include Phoebe and Flo in Woodbridge, Coes and Flex Studio in Ipswich, Rachel Boutique in Hadleigh and Make Holt in Norfolk.

Huge congratulations to Woodbridge School including the Pre-Prep, Senior School, Boarding and Sixth Form for achieving a whopping ‘Double Excellent’ in their Independent Schools’ Inspection Report. Rating the school as excellent in all areas, and achieving full compliance, the inspectors spent three days back in March meeting students and staff as part of the ongoing cycle of inspection.

The report states that, ‘students embrace the many opportunities to improve the lives of others and make an excellent contribution to the community within and beyond school.’

A delighted Shona Norman, Head of School, says: “It provides real evidence of the standard of education, support and guidance our students receive, but it also goes further and evidences our values. From a teaching, academic, pastoral and spiritual point of view, the report demonstrates not only the incredibly high standards achieved, but the positive impact upon our students, staff, and in fact our whole community, in school and beyond.” l You can read the full report here: woodbridgeschool.org.uk/about/inspection-reports/