Man whose stroke left him unable to walk or talk cannot ‘speak to or cuddle’ six-year-old daughter

A man whose bad headache in the middle of the night turned out to be a stroke and a brain haemorrhage has been left unable to walk or speak, and his family are left uncertain about “which parts of him we’ll get back”.

Martin Orme, 41, was living in Dubai with his wife, Lyka, and their then five-year-old daughter, Isabella, when he felt a severe headache on December 15 2024 while putting up the Christmas tree.

He awoke at 1am, took three steps out of bed and collapsed.

Martin was then placed in a coma for 10 weeks, and remains unable to walk or speak some 10 months on.

In April 2025, Martin was eventually able to return to the UK to New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton where he was treated in ICU for multiple, life-threatening infections.

Martin has been in a stable condition since July and is currently in Moseley Hall Hospital, Birmingham, which specialises in brain injury patients.

“We are rife with uncertainty about what can or can’t be done for him,” Carl told PA Real Life.

“The reality is, he is unlikely to ever walk again. We’re not sure which parts of him we’ll get back.

“I just want him to be able to interact with his daughter more, she’s such a daddy’s girl.

“She was unable to visit him during his time in intensive care and now they are barely able to speak.

“They played Connect4, and Martin was dropping the pieces on the floor. You could see her frustration growing. It was really hard and that happens with all games.

“He can’t speak to her, or pick her up and give her a cuddle.”

In 2019, they welcomed Isabella into the family.

After recovering from surgery following his stroke, in mid-February 2025, Martin suffered from a life-threatening kidney and respiratory infection, which further hampered his recovery.

“Infections like that are part and parcel of being in hospital that long,” Carl said, as Martin’s immune system had been severely weakened, his muscles were deteriorating, and long-term catheters are susceptible to bacterial infection.

“Unless you’re in a senior management role in Dubai, it is a very expensive place to live and it can be hard to make ends meet,” Carl said.

“We realised we’d have to get Martin back to the UK for NHS treatment but since he’d been away for so long it wasn’t straightforward.

“Plus, his wife, Lyka, is Filipino and would need a visa. Then there was the issue of physically transporting him home in his state.

Martin was medically repatriated to the UK in April 2025 and he was accepted into New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton, near where his parents live.

After a successful course of antibiotics treated his infections, Martin was moved to Moseley Hall Hospital, where he has remained since June, albeit with a brief return to the ICU.

“Moseley Hall has been amazing,” Carl said.

“The speech team is trying to get him to make specific sounds to get his lips moving, to relearn how to speak.

“If you’re talking to him you’ve got to pay real attention to know what each noise he makes represents.”

A former soldier, Carl was working as a senior manager in education when Martin had his stroke.

Carl said: “There’s 18 months between us and we rubbed along as brothers do, I wasn’t really enjoying work and I realised I didn’t want to regret the things I hadn’t done.

“We spend a lot of time together and I’m still treating him like a brother, not feeling sorry for him in front of him, joking with him as usual.

“It all takes hours but it’s my way of doing the best for him. I want to try and give him some quality of life.”

Carl is spending as much time as he can fundraising for his brother, splitting all proceeds between Martin’s fund and the Stroke Association.

This weekend, he will be in Winchester with a bucket; he recently hosted a raffle as well as a charity pub quiz in his local in Wiltshire, too.

“I wrote to over 500 sports teams and businesses asking them to donate items,” Carl said.

“I heard back from about 5% so we have some great things for sale, like a signed Paul Gascoigne framed England shirt and a signed Tom Jones photo and LP.

Next year, Carl is planning to run from Land’s End to John O’Groats in a mammoth challenge to boost donations.

He has currently raised £6,000.

He said: “I’m determined to get to £20,000 to give my brother the best life I can. I’m going to fight for every last pound.”

Carl’s fundraiser can be found here: www.gofundme.com/f/buy-an-electric-wheelchair-and-speech-aid-for-martin.