Bailey’s Story

Bailey's Story

“My name is Bailey and I am 15 years old; when I was three years old I had a stroke. Let’s jump back to 2005, I was just three and my Mum and Dad had just got married. Two weeks after they got married we went on their honemoon which doubled as a family holiday, we went to Spain.

One day whilst on my Mum and Dads honeymoon, I started to feel tired and unable to walk. Suddenly, the right side of my face started to drop, I had lost all movement and then I passed out.

After a few torturous days, I was flown over to Great Ormand Street hospital, where my family finally found out that I had, had a stroke. I hardly remember anything from this horrible time. However,  I look back on photos and hear stories and I have flash backs to certain thing.

I am now 15 years old, and I have had my personal struggles (don’t get me wrong!) But I will never let this disability define me. Growing up, I did not fully understand what had happened to me. In school, I was clueless to why I could not run as fast as everyone else, or why I had to wear an arm and leg lycra sock. Due to this confusion, I beat myself up everyday because of the stroke. I hated myself and envied all the children who I would rather be.

When I got into secondary school, I had developed some anxiety and found it difficult to interact and find new friends. I isolated myself, I did not realise that there are people who understand. That’s when I turned to my school pastoral team and to Different Strokes.

Once I knew that I was not alone, I came out of my shell, and became my own person and would not let anything get in my way. Now I am accepting myself and the stroke, and I try to think positive about the whole situation. And yes, I did have a stroke, but why be sad about it when I should be working towards helping other children, who are going through the same thing as me, to accept themselves and to let them know they are not alone.”

Your donation helps others like Bailey on their journey

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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