John’s Story – Ischaemic Stroke at 58
- Greg Hollingworth
I know everyone has a different stroke experience, but I hope that my story might encourage you and show that with determination and a positive mental attitude that anything is possible!
My name is John and I live in Hampshire. I am married with three sons and three grandchildren. I am now aged 62 but had an ischaemic stroke in May 2022 when I was 58. For the week before my stroke, I had double vision a couple of times for a few seconds and then things returned to normal. I went to a local optician but he was at lunch and being a ‘man’ didn’t follow it up with my GP – which in hindsight was a big mistake!
It was about 5am on a Monday morning and I woke up in bed and immediately knew something was wrong. My wife luckily woke up and found me unable to move, so she called an ambulance. The paramedics quickly suspected a stroke and I was blue-lighted to St. George’s Hospital in Tooting. They gave me a ‘clot busting’ drug but unfortunately it didn’t work.
It was touch and go for the first couple of days and then I was transferred to Frimley Park Hospital and spent my first four weeks in ICU. I was totally paralysed, unable to speak and unable to eat or drink.
Luckily I was on morphine and semi-conscious. The hospital consultant told my wife that it was probable that I wouldn’t walk again! My wife wouldn’t accept their prognosis and did her own research. My family visited me regularly in the weeks and months that followed which was a godsend. Trying to communicate with them via a letter board was so slow and frustrating for me and especially them as a few words could take forever.
I was moved to the stroke ward where I would spend three months. I did not eat or drink anything for a couple of months, being fed through a tube in my stomach. They initially started me on yoghurt, only for a month, and I graduated to pureed food after three months. Limited movement returned over time, but walking was still a long way off!
I was lucky to be accepted into a neuro rehab hospital (mainly stroke survivors) in Woking. During my three months there I had intensive physio, speech therapy and various activities. It was very different to a general hospital and you were encouraged to socialise especially at meal times. Like many others, I learned to manoeuvre myself in a wheelchair. It was there that I managed my first step. I was holding the rail on the wall and it was only three metres but it was an emotional moment after nearly six months of being in a wheelchair. I came home on a walking frame in December 2022 in a fragile state. My speech was better but very slurred. I had a private physio for the first year and gradually I have improved week by week. At the time progress seems slow but it will happen eventually if you work at it.
Driving again has been massive boost and has given me my independence. Now I walk the dog, cook, watch football, eat and drink normally again, go on holidays and even go to Wembley Stadium to see Coldplay! Prior to my stroke I played golf and through the help of the Golf Trust (a charity who helps you get back into golf) and I now play again – but really badly!
I first came across Different Strokes when my wife picked up a leaflet in the GP’s waiting room. I have attended a face to face meeting and receive the regular emails with inspirational stories. With so many younger (much younger than me!) stroke survivors they provide valuable support to enjoy life again. Two of my three son’s have married and have had children and my third son gets married in Cyprus this summer. I’ve been able to enjoy these special moments and hope for many more!
Your donation helps others like John on their journeys
There are 100,000 strokes in the UK each year with 1 in 4 happening to somebody of working age or younger. Different Strokes aims to promote independent stroke recovery and help these younger stroke survivors reclaim their lives.
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