On the evening of the 24th October Steve Pauline Sharon and I attended the Farnworth Fire Station 30th anniversary function. Steve had been invited and he really wanted to attend. This was another important step for Steve in his journey. The last time he was on a fire station was his last night on full operational duty on the night of the 23rd June 2008. We all quickly realised that my concern for Steve going back to a fire station was not needed. He was surrounded by friends from all sections of the job and was back laughing and talking as if he had never been away. We all had a great time and as usual the Fire fighters at Farnworth Fire Station put on a fantastic night. Steve listened to Kylie Minogue who sang live on stage and afterwards had a chat with her in the bar. Lucky bloke. Kylie's real name is Clare but when Clare is on stage she has a fantastic Kylie sound.

Steve looked great and felt comfortable being back amongst the Fire Service Family. Many people stood with him and said some really good words of support. He was on his usual Guinness and he was able to stand at the bar and mix in with everyone. We just stood back and let him get on with it.

When Steve was ready to leave we made our way out of the back door while we were there the on duty watch of fire fighters wished him well and I introduced him to a probationer Fire fighter from Salford Borough. Steve shook the probationers hand and told her that she was in a great job, wished her well with her career and told her with a smile on his face not to be put off doing the job when she looked at him (typical Steve humour). When we passed the fire appliances Steve shouted to Pauline as he opened a fire appliance door that he was getting on the big red.

A great night and another step forward for our Steve.

The next part of this blog I write with a great sense of pride and admiration for Steve. Last night we had a chat about this blog and Steve has asked if he can start writing the it himself. He has his computer set up now and his ready to go.

I hope I have done justice in my writing to Steve's recovery and I hope that somewhere along the way I have given people inspiration in writing about how committed Steve has been to his recovery and to Pauline and his wider family and friends. To each and everyone one of you I say thank you for reading and sincere thanks for all the kind words of encouragement about my blog entries. Without all of you we would have found the last 16 months much harder to deal with. Steve has amazing family and friends and he can go forward knowing how much support he has. I am privileged to be part of all that.

So now I hand over the reins to the big fella fondly known as Biff.

Gaz Dewar has left the blog.