Friends pray after Eddie flies back to Norwich
FEBRUARY 26 UPDATE: Jeannie Pleban said to Network Norfolk: "Please thank all the people who have helped, supported and prayed for Eddie and us. At the moment I still feel too sad to make a lot of face to-face-contact with individuals outside of our family circle but would want to extend my and the children's gratitude.
"This will be a long, hard road but with God's help I know we will get there no matter what that road may bring."
By Keith Morris
Norfolk housing manager
Eddie Pleban, who suffered a stroke while on a flight back from Australia where he was visiting his daughter, is now back in the UK in the
Norfolk & Norwich Hospital where he is still seriously ill but now out of intensive care.
Eddie was flown back by air ambulance from the hospital in Dubai, where he had been on a ventilator, earlier this week and wife Jeannie and family members followed closely behind.
Eddie’s sons, daughters and grandchildren have now travelled from across the globe to be with the couple in Norwich.
Jeannie said: “Eddie has no movement below his neck, he has a tracheotomy to help his breathing and because he cannot swallow. He communicates by blinking and use of an alphabet board. Our experience of him is that his face has no paralysis and his brain is functioning 100%. He has memory right up to the time he became unconscious.
“I know in my heart that in all of this God has a plan and it is wonderful to have him home in the UK but in my darkest moments to be really honest I cannot see this as a miracle. Eddie is a man who loves walking the mountains, eating good food and romping with his grandchildren. I do not know how he will bear living as he is.”
Friends and former colleagues from YMCA Norfolk organised an hour of prayer for Eddie and his family on Monday February 21, at the YMCA building at Trowse near Norwich.
Family friend, Alexis Lloyd, said: “If you cannot make the prayer meeting then please set aside that hour to pray for Eddie and his family. There are also opportunities to help with food for the freezer – all Eddie’s children are here from various parts of the globe with their children, so anything we can do to ease the situation is appreciated.”
Eddie’s daughter Louise Hamilton, who lives in Norwich, is keeping colleagues, friends and family up to date with an “I Love Eddie Pleban” Facebook group where scores of people have been expressing their prayers and good wishes for the Christian couple.
Louise has also issued a plea for help with family coming to Norwich from Gilbraltar and Australia. She needs winter clothes for children, a chest freezer for food and an electrician to install a socket for the freezer. Conact Louise at louise@hamilton1.eclipse.co.uk