A MAN has assembled a team of hikers to raise money for the hospital which performed a life-saving brain operation on him after he suffered a series of seizures.

Mike Nicholls, from Golborne, was tending to his daughter’s two ponies in a field on Ashton Road when he suddenly collapsed and started fitting.

The 57-year-old passed out, regained conciousness an hour later and managed to drive his van in first gear to his home a mile away despite being unable to move his left leg.

His wife Lesley, 54, called an ambulance and after first going to Wigan's Royal Albert Edward Infirmary he underwent craniotomy surgery to remove a brain tumour at Salford Royal Hospital.

Mike says he is eternally grateful to the neurology department at Salford Royal for saving his life and hopes to raise as much money as possible from his 7.5-mile hike with family and friends in the Lake District on July 15.

He said: “I wanted to do the hike because the lead consultant Dr Leach and the other staff at Salford Royal were so good with me.

“The consultation and the treatment went so well and all the staff gave me confidence that I would pull through.

“The NHS get a lot of negative press and I think it deserves more recognition for how good a service it provides in lots of cases.

“The hike will be tough but it is important for my family and I to give something back to the hospital for how well I was looked after.”

Mike, who works as a healthcare assistant at Whiston Hospital, says he had been experiencing headaches for a few weeks before suffering the seizures.

He said: “I was cleaning the stables out when I got severe cramp in my leg and collapsed.

“I knew something was badly wrong at the time and then I blacked out.

“I had never been admitted to hospital before but I had been getting headaches for a few weeks.”

Mike has not suffered any further health problems since his operation in October and has now been given the all clear to return to work.

To make a donate for the fundraising hike visit bit.ly/2sqFBK9.