Everything changed for Tyrone Garrick on the morning of January 31.

The 40-year-old Popley man had woken up with a pounding headache which lasted all day.

He took the usual allotment of paracetamol and painkillers to try and cure the ailment, but nothing seemed to work.

“After about a week of prolonged pain I explained my symptoms to the local chemist who thought it may have been a migraine,” he told the Gazette.

“No over the counter medication was working so I made an appointment to see my GP as the headaches were getting worse.”

But nothing seemed to resolve his pain.

Then on February 6 during a gym session, a friend pointed out that Ty did not look too well and suggested he go home and get some rest.

“This was when things got worse,” Ty continued.

“After I had a shower I crashed to the ground in agonising pain, not being able to see or function properly and my brother called an ambulance.”

Later that day after undergoing a CT scan at Basingstoke hospital, Ty was told he had bleeding and blood clotting on the side of his brain.

He was transferred that same day to Southampton Hospital with the possibility of surgery looming.

Further tests were done which confirmed acute subdural hematoma.

But no surgery was done, and Ty was sent home with a course of paracetamol and painkillers.

But then on Valentine’s Day he found himself back at Basingstoke hospital where it was revealed the bleeding and the clot had gotten worse.

Ty required surgery, which he had, and was then discharged a few days later.

Basingstoke Gazette:

“I continued with day-to-day life, although in considerable pain and experiencing sight loss on reduced mobility,” he added.

“On February 28 I was referred and admitted to St Georges Hospital in London and was seen immediately due to the referral.

“More CT scans revealed that the bleeding had gotten considerably worse and there was a chronic subdural hematoma pressing on my right side of my brain.

“I was admitted to resus and had further surgery the next morning which required the original surgical holes in my head to be reopened to attempt to resolve the neuro trauma.”

Further pain required further surgery.

After remaining under close observations once it was confirmed the chronic subdural hematoma was reducing Ty was discharged from hospital on March 28.

He still remains under close observations and follow up appointments have confirmed the original hematoma has cleared and he can now start recovering, which will take up to 12 months.

But life is still far from normal as Ty’s friend Dean Clayton will attest to.

The 33-year-old electronics trader from Chineham has not seen Ty since he was first admitted to Southampton hospital many months ago.

“It has been horrible,” he said.

“Especially when he was in Tooting as our whole group were worried that he might not make it out.”

View the GoFundMe page here

Ty is self-employed and as a result has not been able to work for months.

That’s why it was a “no-brainer” for Dean to set up a GoFundMe page for his mate.

“Ty is the sort of person that doesn’t ever ask for help but is always the first person to offer it to any one of his people without hesitation,” Dean added.

“It was originally going to be just for our group, but everyone thought it was a great idea, so I opened it out to social media and the response has been great.”

So far, they have raised more than £3,000 to help Ty get through this tough period of his life, more than double the original £1,500 target they had set.

“I’m just so glad that he came out the other side of this and I think it’s been a big wake up call for me and some of our other close friends not to take each other’s presence for granted,” he finished.

“All I’d like to be included is a huge thank you to every person that donated, shared and messaged.

“And of course, a message to the big man himself that I’m so glad he’s still here… and able to send me music for my Spotify account.”