Nick’s self-confidence was at perhaps, its lowest ebb since the attack that left him fighting the multiple disabilities caused by brain injury. He was ashamed to be seen, ashamed to go out and had immured himself in his home in a prison for safety.

As the wonderful messages began to come in with support from around the world, messages of respect, care and encouragement, a subtle shift began to occur and Nick started to see things differently.

Then another small miracle happened. Her name is Faith.

Faith is a tiny, beautiful and very talented young woman who laughs a lot and is very wise. After chatting to Nick for some weeks, she got on a train and came to meet him.

Yesterday, the pair of them invited me to dinner at Nick’s home. She and Nick had gone to Tesco…and anyone following Nick’s story will understand immediately how traumatic that can be for my son. So he went on the mobility scooter… with little Faith hanging on to it on rollerblades.

Tomorrow they are going away. The things they have planned don’t bear thinking about in terms of health and safety, but in terms of laughter it sounds perfect. They have chosen to go away and celebrate the third anniversary of the attack as a re-birthday, with giggles rather than tears.

Without the change in attitude wrought by the support he has received, by the kindness and messages that have given him back some self-respect and hope for his future, Nick would not have been able to embrace this new phase. He would not have been ready to come out of his shell again.

It would seem that a little Faith goes a long way.

“Smiles! 1 smile + 1 smile = infinity smiles” – Faith