A 95-year-old resident at a Chalfont St Peter care home, who was told he would never walk or talk again, has attended his granddaughter’s wedding after he made a miraculous recovery.
Bert Edlin, a retired farmer, had lived in Chalfont St Giles since he was six months old. He moved to Chalfont Lodge Care Home in July 2022.
Following a fall last year which meant his airway became blocked, Bert underwent a tracheotomy. His family was told he would never walk again, and never talk, eat or drink independently again.
Since then however, Bert has continued to defy the odds with his recovery. He and the staff at Chalfont Lodge have worked incredibly hard to get him back on form.
Aided by the home’s dedicated walking, speech and language, and activities teams, Bert is now doing all of the things he was told he could never do again.
He now takes a daily walk around the grounds, regardless of the weather, and regularly comes to watch entertainment.
Louise Doyle, lead activities coordinator at Chalfont Lodge, said: “Bert’s miraculous recovery is down to his fighting spirit. He is one of a kind, a force of nature.
“The hospital gave us a long list of things he’d never do again, but he has proved them wrong in every single one of them. He is amazing.”
In fact, Bert’s recovery has been so incredible that he was even able to attend his granddaughter Rachel’s wedding on June 1.
Rachel said: “I always believed he would get better. I asked him to be my flower grandad. He was still unable to talk at that point, but he wrote a note that said: ‘I will make it to your wedding’.”
Bert said: “I can’t believe I got to watch my granddaughter get married. You see, I am still here, I got to make the wedding – that is the main thing.
“There were around 100 people there, so I had a lot of things going through my head. I have always said to myself: ‘Believe anything is possible.’”
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