Last year we were contacted by the Rhodes family who told us of their daughter Ella who sadly passed away after suffering a major stroke in March 2017. Ella was a supporter of Different Strokes and had previously undertaken a sponsored tandem paraglide in 2012 to raise money for the charity, with this in mind the family recently donated £5,120 in memory of Ella. The Ella Rhodes fund will be used to establish and support new Different Strokes groups across the UK which will directly benefit other younger stroke survivors.

Ella’s sister Lindsey told us a bit more about Ella:

“Ella gained her O and A levels in Selby, North Yorkshire and then went to Wolverhampton University and achieved a BA in French, German and Business Studies. She followed this with a MA in Human Resource Management. Latterly she was working for a FTSE 250 company as Head of Human Resources.

Ella danced like no one was watching!! She was a remarkable person and had such strength. Her glass was always half full; never half empty and she never said, “why me?”  She was a great believer that in life you should make the most of your time for she too had suffered life changing experiences. She taught us that the best things in life are the people we love, the places we’ve been and the memories we make along the way. She left us a wealth of words and encouragement to be the best we can be and not to waste a moment on things that don’t make us happy. Her legacy was simply that life is too short to plan for the future. “Life is about today, so make it count!” she’d say. Treasure the simplest of pleasures. She was quiet, thoughtful and kind. She gave of her time because that is the most precious thing we all have. She was never afraid to say, “I love you”.”

Ella is survived by a partner (Francis), a sister (Lindsey), a niece & nephew (Honey and Ethan) and her Mum and Dad. We are extremely grateful to the Rhodes family.

On behalf of us all at Different Strokes we are so humbled by this generous donation and this will benefit so many younger stroke survivors.