Share Your Survivor Story
Your story can make a real difference
At Different Strokes, we champion the voices of working-age stroke survivors. Sharing your stroke story can be a powerful way to help others feel less alone and to raise awareness that stroke can happen at any age.
Many younger survivors tell us that hearing from people with similar experiences helps them feel understood and supported. By sharing your story, you can help others who may be earlier in their recovery, as well as increase understanding of the challenges of life after stroke.
Sharing your experience can also be cathartic. For many people, it’s a way to process what they’ve been through and to reflect on their journey so far. There’s no right or wrong way to tell your story and you only need to share what feels comfortable for you.
How the process works:
- You register your interest using our short form
- A member of the Different Strokes team will be in touch.
- We will explain the next steps and support you to share your story in a way that works for you
You do not need to write your story straight away. This first step is just to let us know you are interested.
Ways to share your story:
You can share your story in different ways:
- Writing it yourself in your own time
- If you live with aphasia or communication challenges, we can arrange a video call with a member of our team who will interview you and write your story.
Please note that due to limited resources, there may be a wait for supported calls.
Press and awareness opportunities:
Some survivors are happy for their stories to be shared with the press or used to highlight issues around younger stroke. This could include newspapers, online articles or awareness campaigns.
Please let us know if you are interested in this. There is no obligation, and we will always contact you first before anything is shared.
Our promise to you:
When you share your survivor story with Different Strokes, you stay in control.
You choose what you share
We will always ask for your consent before publishing
You can take your time and there is no pressure
You can ask questions at any stage
You can withdraw your story at any time in the future
We believe survivors should have the space to share their story in their own words. We rarely change people’s words and only do so to improve clarity, spelling or grammar.
If we feel that anything you have shared could put you at risk, we will talk to you about it before your story is published.
Register your interest
If you would like to share your survivor story, please complete the short form below and we will be in touch with you soon.
Please note:
We love hearing your stories! At the moment, we can only accept submissions from people living in, or originally from, the UK.
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