Get well soon Fernando!

I woke up this morning, late, again, to an e-mail from a friend of a friend of the 'blog called Fernando666.

Now some of you may remember the name as he penned a few articles for us right at the start of the site.

If you like he is one of the founders of this very site and contributed as much as his time would allow him to up until the untimely death of one of his close relatives.

Needless to say he took some time out, which is understandable in the circumstances, but I never heard back from him so just thought it was one of those things and that he had other priorities. I did find it strange how there was suddenly no activity from him, even on Facebook, but thought nothing of it as such.

Getting back to that e-mail, it's only now that I know the whereabouts of Fernando. Unfortunately he has been in hospital for several months now with a condition that has caused him to lose most of his motor movements, speech and sight. I don't know what is wrong, but it doesn't sound pleasant whatever it is.

Whilst he is still in a critical condition the doctors believe that there will be no lasting damage and are hopeful that he will make a full recovery in an unspecified timeframe. Sad news, although hopefully there will be a positive ending to it all. One of the things that is keeping him going is thought of seeing Newcastle United again and the chance of contributing to the site once again. I hope he can do both!

I'm sure you'll all join me in wishing Fernando the speediest of recoveries. I've asked his friend to read this out to him and I'd like to thank Carmo Sardinha for getting in touch with me and letting me know what is going on.

Get well soon Fernando!