The stroke association are absolutely fabulous. I would not have survived without the wonderful Sall...y. What that lady did for me she will never realize. Her support helped me through some of my worst times. The stroke association are working tirelessly to raise awareness on so so many important issues affecting stroke survivors and their families. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support. I’m now hoping to get to work with the stroke association to give back and help other stroke survivors and their families. 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜 Afficher la suite

I had a haemorrhagic stroke 27th of December 2012. Prior to this I had no knowledge of the stroke as...sociation and their work. My main concern was to get my body doing things that I've done for years. I am a distance runner, note that I said am and not was! So was keen to get back to it asap. The doctor on the stroke ward at wexham park stated that I would most likely not be able to run again. To me that was a red flag to a bull. I was helbent on proving him wrong. When I met local stroke care in my new forest area one ex marathon runner on the local team believed that I could get back eventually. I won't embarrass her by naming her.

I went and helped as a volunteer at the Sway and district branch of the stroke association. I had some pretty stout physiotherapy and my previous experiences of martial arts meant that within a year I could walk a mile to our local beach of Milford on sea. My son was born 6 weeks before my stroke and I was determined to be in fully functioning dad mode. I pulled every muscle to get myself mobile again and I would not settle for limping about with a stick. After one year, I felt strong enough to return to the world of work part time at first time, but eventually the fatigue was too much. I needed a new career, not easy when you're 49 and live in a village on the edge of new forest.

I had continued to liaise with the stroke association and their conversation and support was immense. 2 years onwards, I met up with former colleagues from my running club were really keen to help me with my recovery. So I entered a couple of 5K runs, painfully slow at first about 36 minutes. But soon built up my speed and balance. After 3 years of gentle running I entered a couple of club races. I didn't finish last, I was mid pack! Soon running 5K was not enough. So with guidance from my gp I increased my distances to doing half marathons raising funds for the stroke association. While never back to where I was pre stroke, I have shaved 30 minutes off my half marathon time over 6 months period. 2018 full marathon is my target as well as ultra later in the year and the near future. Afficher la suite