Jolene, Charlene and Eilish are sharing their inspirational stories on World Stroke Day
Dealing with a life-altering stroke is not a challenge most of us would expect to strike us in our 30s or 40s.
PREP is designed to provide additional support for stroke survivors after their statutory rehab has ended by helping people to rebuild their lives and gain confidence through a combination of education and physio-developed exercises. “I’ll never forget that day. It was May 26th 2021. I was in the car travelling home from Portrush when I began to feel very sick and started vomiting. I thought nothing of it at first, but then all of a sudden, I saw a big white flash, like a camera going off, and I couldn’t see.”
“I was thinking, if this is a visual migraine this is horrendous and felt a bit embarrassed that I was in such a bad way. But then I was taken into another ward and I remember this woman coming up to me and saying ‘Jolene, you’ve had a stroke’. I just felt like her face, everything, just zoned out. It was a total shock.”
“It affected everything like being able to do things for myself, getting out and about, socialising. At the start, I couldn’t even have a conversation with anyone. When I came home, I could only see half the TV screen and I would have to turn my whole head to watch it. I couldn’t even tolerate the noise of the TV.
Jolene took part in PREP online as well as the charity’s outdoor Stroke Walking Group before the programme returned to face-to-face delivery. “I started feeling really dizzy, so I decided to head home. When I got into my house, I went to the bathroom and was sick. Then, my symptoms got much worse and I realised I was having a stroke,” she recalled.
Gradually, with the help of a Speech and Language Therapist and Occupational Therapist, Charlene’s speech and right-sided weakness began to improve. Charlene has this advice for anyone going through what she went through:“Keep going – it’s not the end!” “I carried on getting Michael ready and the droop was getting worse. Then when I’d finished, I took a picture of my face and sent it to my sister. She replied and said you might be having a stroke, you need to get seen. I sent the photo to another friend too and she phoned me straight away and said the same and told me to call an ambulance.”
“Everybody knows the signs of a stroke and the FAST acronym, but they often aren’t aware of how it affects people, even as they get their mobility back. It can be the other stuff that can be just as hard to deal with. It affects your thinking, your understanding. “The physio exercises we did at the group were also brilliant – I did them at home too and noticed a big difference in my weak side. We also had information sessions about stroke and our health with a cup of tea or coffee at the end, and those were so beneficial as well.