Hilary's recovery has progressed enormously over the past couple of days. Today, for the first time, we were able to have a perfectly normal two-way conversation with her. As recently as yesterday she was struggling to say more than a few words at a time, but is now able to speak completely normally. I was teasing her about her taking part in last year's St John's 10k Walk, which she decided to enter 5 minutes before the start (with a little pursuasion from Gail), having just eaten a large curry takeaway on the way! I told her that as tonight was my 'comeback' 10k race after more than 2 years out with injury, I would be under pressure to beat her time! She was laughing about that.

Having said all that, this may sound a little contradictory. We (that is, the family and the nursing staff) have decided, for the forseeable future, to restrict visitors to immediate family and very close friends only. Hilary is presently coming to terms with what has happened and the extent of her injuries, and needs plenty of time and space to be able to do that. So many people have been wishing her well, and are anxious to see her now that she is out of ICU and recovering well. The problem is that it has been getting a bit too much over recent days, and she needs plenty of peace, quiet, rest, and time to think over the coming days. For the same reason we will not be updating on here as regularly for the time being. We are sure that everyone will understand the situation.

If you wish to send her a card, that's great - she is on Ward 11 of Nobles Hospital, Braddan, Isle of Man. Hilary is absolutely astonished at the level of support for her and has asked us to thank everyone for their kindness and concern.