Watch an interview with LV= member, Jennie Gow

My name's Jennie Gow. I'm an F1 presenter and pitlane reporter for the BBC. I love motorsports and get to travel the world with the F1 circus, which is what they call it, but I'm also a wife and a mum to a little girl and I love my life. I'm very lucky. 

My life changed drastically on the 29th of December 2022, a date that I will now always remember. I picked up a really heavy cold just before Christmas. I spoke to the doctors. They said it was nothing to really worry about. When I coughed, kind of, one last time, and that cough ruptured or dissected the carotid artery, which is one of the four arteries that go up from your neck into your brain. And obviously I didn’t realise that, but yeah, that cough was the final straw, I suppose. That’s when I collapsed in the bathroom and obviously my husband found me and that’s when the whole stroke kicked in.

I don't really remember too much. It's like a shutter opening and closing of my memories. I don't remember the trip into the hospital at all, apart from my daughter was there and she held my hand and that was the last time. 

Yeah, that was the last time my hand actually was working, cause the right-side paralysis set in at that point. 

I remember my husband coming in. That was surreal, and then my daughter came in as well and by that point, I couldn't reach out to them or touch them and  I couldn't speak to them, still didn't really know what was going on. I wasn't really that aware of my surroundings and why I was there even. So at that point in time, I think my husband was going through a whole world of emotions. He was in a relatives room, being briefed about what had happened.

And they did confirm to him that I'd had a stroke and that it could be certainly life altering, but also potentially fatal. Even though they removed the clot, it's not quite as simple as that. The brain doesn't just heal, the damage that is done is there forever. 

I remember waking up and obviously I was in this operating theatre. I had no idea where I was or what had happened. My husband was by my side, so that was reassuring, but I still couldn't speak to him, I still couldn’t really gesture to him. I just had no words and that was really hard. 

And for me as a broadcaster, not being able to speak was so alien. So, all I could concentrate on with that was trying to fix myself, I suppose, to try and get myself back to speaking. 

The care that I received was amazing. Honestly, the nurses, the therapists and the doctors were all amazing. I was so lucky. The nurse in particular, that I remember. She said you need to try and find your voice again. So get angry and just in your head try and shout it out. 

Get angry and just say Ah, and somehow I did and. Yeah, she was so kind. And I would not be beaten. 

It's really hard looking back at that cause you know that that moment might have been a defining moment in your life. But thank goodness she was there and she drove me and made me speak again. 

So I have this amazing financial adviser called Ian who runs a little company called Druthers, and he advised us in, I think August of 2022 that it would be wise to take some sort of protection for my income just in case the worst happened.

And at that point you think, but do I need it? I'm perfectly fit and well, but took out a policy with LV= just to protect my income going forward and that was quite an astute move, it turns out. No one had a glass ball. We didn't know what was about to happen, but when we were in hospital, just knowing that we had that protection and that LV=, as soon as we phoned them and they kicked in and together with Ian and LV=, they all behind the scenes for us as a family, they were able to proceed and cover us going forward, which was.. I mean, it was a life changer for us because I couldn't speak, let alone work and we didn't know if I'd ever get back to broadcasting. 

So to have that just peace of mind that actually would be okay, that was such a great help at that time. Throughout all of this process, if they hadn't have been there to support me, I don't know quite where would have been. It would have been a very different situation.

When Ian contacted LV=. I don't think there were any questions of or are we going to pay? Are we not? Are you actually protected or not? It was just automatic that this has happened. Fill out these forms. You need to react to this, and we will have your back, and as a company it was quite impressive to be honest.

So not only did LV= support me in the financial side of things, but I explained to them that I was desperate to get back to work and they suggested that actually, they could support me with some more therapy. LV= have been great in helping me get back to work, or at least trying to get back to work.

I have a case handler called Alison. I've never met her, obviously, but we've spoken a lot on email. I feel sorry for her because the case file must be massive because I'm messaging her all the time saying ‘oh I've got some work, I'm working this week!’ so yeah she's been great. She feels like she's part of my extended bubble of therapists really. Because I messaged her so many times and we speak on the phone every now and then and it's a really nice relationship, and I wouldn't have expected that from an insurance company.

And I trust LV= and I trust Alison that they want me to get back to work. And if I can, that's great. If I can't, that's another conversation and it will for me feel like I've failed if I can't get back to ‘my old me’. 

But knowing that Alison is there and if I have a setback that LV= and she will understand that, and still be there to support me - it's very powerful that connection.

I remember just at the end of the phone call, starting to cry, I cry a lot, but it was just such a relief that I found this policy and unbeknown to me at the time, signed up to a company that would really support me. 

I think that meeting with Ian and Druthers really helped our decision-making. I don’t think if it had been left to me, I would ever gone – you know what I need today? I need some income protection. I wouldn’t have had that thought. But actually having that protection and the level of protection I did, has been life changing.

And if you can, I'd definitely recommend this insurance and protection because it's just for those times when you think you're floating at the top of the cloud and everything's going great and all of a sudden, you've dropped through the cloud and you've got nothing. You're falling, and this is just a parachute to keep you off the ground, and it is.. it's a lifesaver.