Privacy Notice.<\/a><\/p>\nThe couple held an anniversary celebration for 49 family and friends at the Garfield House Hotel in Stepps and, rather than receiving gifts, they asked for donations to the National Spinal Injuries Unit, part of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus.<\/p>\n
Gordon said: \u201cWe couldn\u2019t believe how generous everyone was.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven people who couldn\u2019t attend donated to our fund, which we\u2019re really grateful for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gordon and Valerie returned to the National Spinal Injuries Unit to present the cheque to Dr Mariel Purcell, Consultant in Spinal Injuries and Lead Clinician at the Unit, and Lead Nurse Helena Richmond.<\/p>\n
Gordon had spent five months in the unit in 2019, after being diagnosed with a condition called an AV dural fistula causing paraplegia.<\/p>\n
He was left with limited control of his body below the waist, but that hasn\u2019t stopped the couple making the most of their lot.<\/p>\n
\u201cLife can be difficult, but we get along fine,\u201d said Gordon.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not what we wanted at our age and I\u2019m so aware of, and grateful for, everything that Valerie does for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we still have so much to look forward to.\u201d<\/p>\n
The couple will leave for a special holiday in Switzerland tomorrow.<\/p>\n
It was a surprise anniversary gift from Gordon \u2013 and Valerie is \u201cbeyond excited\u201d about the trip after the stresses of preparing for the anniversary celebration.<\/p>\n
Gordon still receives annual check-ups with the Spinal Injuries team, and he has nothing but praise for the care he received there.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI\u2019ve always been treated very well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like they see me as a person, and not just a patient, and that\u2019s very important to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d just like to thank them all \u2013 and I hope this small gift can go some way to giving something back to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Helena Richmond said: \u201cWe\u2019d like to express our gratitude to Gordon and Valerie for their fundraising efforts, and for their wonderful donation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe funds will be put to good use, helping us to continue to improve the comfort and facilities in our Day Room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Purcell added: \u201cThroughout the Spinal Injuries Unit, our staff work tirelessly to treat patients and give them the tools to live well when they go home.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany patients, like Gordon, can be with us for a considerable period, and we often develop close relationships with them and their loved ones. It\u2019s because of those relationships that kind donations like this one are particularly special, and they give all our staff a real boost in these challenging times.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn behalf of everyone at the Spinal Injuries Unit, I would like to thank Gordon and Valerie for this wonderful gift.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gordon Thallon and wife Valerie handed over a cheque to the Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injuries Unit, as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":457681,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7826],"tags":[748,12450,918,4884,117208,519,712,2417,16,15,12846],"class_list":{"0":"post-457680","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-glasgow","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-charity","10":"tag-glasgow","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-kirkintilloch","13":"tag-royal-family","14":"tag-scotland","15":"tag-the-queen","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-universities-and-colleges"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115281530418684184","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_jgr_gordon.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1758085594_118_0_WACOMMUNITYQR3.jpg\")
Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community!<\/p>\n