I was in a coma dreaming about Romesh and biscuits then forgot my newborn son

I was in a coma dreaming about Romesh and biscuits then forgot my newborn son Mike Jewell stared to fall down after drinking cider and when he woke he was slurring his words A dad who was falling over after just a few pints of cider was actually suffering a stroke, and later woke up from a coma unable to remember his newborn son. Mike Jewell, from Barnstaple, had spent a day in September 2025 pressing apples and enjoying some drinks with friends and slept through the entire following day. When he finally woke up, he said he had a “banging headache” and his wife, Ellie, 38, noticed his speech was slurred. Mike, 42, was rushed to hospital, where he said doctors discovered he had suffered a haemorrhagic stroke caused by bleeding in or around the brain. He underwent emergency brain surgery to relieve the pressure and said he was placed in an induced coma for two weeks. He said he had no memory of his son when we woke up and was told he might never walk again. Determined to defy the odds, Mike relearnt everyday tasks such as using his phone’s touchscreen and making a cup of tea in just one week. A few weeks later, he returned home and he regained the ability to walk and improved his speech before returning to his job as a carpenter and joiner full-time in February 2026. Mike, a father to Morgan, 10 months, Alanah, four, and Evie, 13, told PA Real Life: “When I woke up from the coma, Ellie said, ‘Here’s your son, he’s yours’, and I just said, ‘What?’. I had no recollection of him or him being born. It was so weird. He had completely gone from my mind. I absolutely adore him – he’s brilliant – but at first I just didn’t know what was going on.” In September 2025, Mike was out one afternoon making cider with friends and had a few drinks. He started falling over, and his friends assumed it “must be the booze”, so they laid him down. The next morning, he went home to his family and slept for almost an entire day. “I hadn’t drunk much. It wasn’t as if I was hungover – I was just exhausted and felt weird,” Mike said. He woke up the following day with a “banging headache”, and his wife, Ellie, noticed his speech was slurred and he was not making any sense. So, Ellie rang their local stroke unit and took him there, before he was blue-lighted to hospital. “Everything felt hazy, like I was in a dream,” Mike added. In hospital, scans confirmed he had suffered a stroke and Mike said doctors believed it happened when he began falling over a couple of days earlier. He was monitored for a week, but his condition deteriorated and his speech became worse. “All I can remember is what my wife has told me – it’s very weird,” Mike said. A further scan revealed the bleed had grown, and Mike said he was rushed into emergency brain surgery to relieve the pressure. He spent two weeks in an induced coma while the pressure and swelling reduced, with doctors fighting to keep him alive. Mike explained: “My family were terrified but I can remember my dreams from the coma but that’s about it. “They were so weird – I was in hospital fitting windows with (comedian) Romesh Ranganathan and then, as I came out of the coma, I was working in a biscuit factory.” When he woke up, he said he could not remember the birth of his newborn son, Morgan, who was just a few weeks old. Mike said doctors also warned him he might never walk again – his left arm and leg were very weak, and he could barely string a few words together. “I had weakness everywhere. I couldn’t stand up, although I kept trying and I’d end up with my face on the floor,” Mike said. “It was just so frustrating.” He said doctors told him he would probably remain in hospital until after Christmas and showed him a list of tasks he would need to complete before he could be discharged. Mike used the list as motivation, throwing all of his energy into his rehabilitation. His goals included drawing noughts and crosses grids, walking from the ward to the reception desk and back, and making a cup of tea. He also had to relearn how to unlock his phone and use a touchscreen. “I spent three hours just trying to put my fingers together. It was mad, but once I’d learnt it, I could remember how to do it,” Mike explained. "I had to learn how to do everything again.” Within a week, he completed every task on the list and was transferred to his local hospital in Barnstaple before returning home a few days later. “I worked with an occupational therapist and a physiotherapist at home to continue building my strength and skills,” Mike said. “One of the last things I had to do before my occupational therapist signed me off was cook her a meal. I made cottage pie with all the trimmings – one of my specialities.” Throughout his recovery, Ellie was still on maternity leave and, as Mike is self-employed, money was “a worry”. However, thanks to the support of Round Table, a men’s social and community organisation where Mike serves as Devon president, more than £20,000 was raised through GoFundMe. Mike began working again in January, taking on smaller jobs, and by February he was back to fitting kitchens full-time. Looking back on his experience, Mike said: “Everything feels surreal sometimes. “I occasionally say a different word from the one I mean, and it brings it all back. But, considering the state I was in, I think I’ve done well. I don’t take anything for granted any more.” He is now focused on making a difference as the UK’s network of 275 Round Tables begins a year of fundraising and awareness raising for the charity Different Strokes, which supports working-age stroke survivors as they reclaim their lives. “I think it’s important people know a stroke can happen to you at any age, and I think my age and fitness helped my recovery,” Mike added. For more information, visit: differentstrokes.co.uk.