Resilience, Support & Opportunity

I started my career working with asphalt as a Shovel Driver and Rail Unloader, quickly learning a range of other tasks including the weighbridge, mixing, and lab work. In December 2016, I joined FM Conway as a Depot Operative following the United Asphalt acquisition. It was here that I began to take on more responsibility, including stepping into an unofficial shift leader role, before being promoted to Supervisor at Theale Asphalt Plant, and later to Unit Manager at Aldershot Asphalt Plant.

I joined the Disability Confident Forum as I wear hearing aids and have experienced severe hearing loss ever since I was a kid. Then, around Christmas 2023, I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnoea. Neither condition is visible, and that’s what piqued my interest in being part of the forum.

FM Conway has been incredibly supportive over the past year, particularly throughout my sleep apnoea diagnosis. In November 2023, my colleagues raised concerns that I was falling asleep at my desk. This started a chain of events that led to my diagnosis. HR responded quickly, and I was temporarily moved to a depot closer to home, as I was unable to drive until I was medically cleared. The HR team supported me in contacting ‘myGP’ through our Employee Assistance Programme, which led to a referral and an appointment at a private sleep clinic within 10 days. During this time, I was regularly contacted and supported by the HR team, my Line Manager, and my Director. After receiving a full diagnosis just before Christmas, I was issued a CPAP machine in January and returned to Aldershot Asphalt Plant by March 2024.

Severe Sleep Apnoea is a disorder where breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep. Prior to my diagnosis, I was having around 69 events per hour - an event is a closure of the airway, and my body was fighting to take oxygen in. This led to headaches, constant tiredness, weight gain, and irritability, among other things). I had basically not slept in four years.

Even though I was going to bed and ‘sleeping’, my body wasn't able to rest and do what it is supposed to do while you sleep because it was fighting to keep me alive. Looking back, I can now see how bad it was and have learnt that the health implications of leaving this untreated could have been strokes, brain haemorrhages, and heart attacks, something that doesn’t bear thinking about when I have two young children.

Now, thanks to my diagnosis and CPAP machine, I only have 1-4 events per hour. My team and Manager know the signs if I have had a bad night’s sleep and are always ready to support me. Overall, I feel like a different person. I have far more energy, I’m back to my happy, positive self, and daytime tiredness is now zero.

This has helped me to complete my Management Fundamentals course last month, and I have since found out that I’m only the second person in the company to complete this. FM Conway has given me great opportunities, and it’s thanks to the people above me who gave me the opportunities to push myself and prove that I can do the job.