My name is Charlotte and aged 27 I was a delivery driver for courier company.  I was very active, loved walking with the dog and with my three children and my partner.

On the night of my stroke we had finished work after a busy day, picked our daughter up and headed home for the day.  I made a cup of tea for me and my partner and went upstairs to the lounge.  I thought I needed to change our daughter’s nappy so I lay her down then suddenly I couldn’t talk!  My partner said

“Charl what’s up?” when I collapsed, and he kept shouting “Charl, Charl…Oh God!”

An ambulance was called straight away.  I was then taken to Leighton Hospital and then transferred to North Staffordshire Hospital.  The first two days were a blur.  On day six I was discharged ,but I was still unable to say anything other than “yes” or “no”.

I had even forgotten the names of my own children.

Recovery has been hard – very hard.  Having been a twenty seven year old woman who could handle anything that was thrown at her, to now being unable to do normal daily things has been a challenge, to say the least.

Over a year has passed now and I am finally in a happy place.  I’m at peace with what happened.  I still struggle with reading and writing but I now see my stroke as a blessing,

I have 3 beautiful children and a wonderful fiancé.  He is actually so wonderful that he is walking from Crewe to Llangollen with two friends in March and also my brilliant dad and his partner in April, to support the wonderful cause that helped with my recovery.

I have the DS Facebook page and also a messaging app that uses the internet to send messages, images, audio or video set up by my local group.  The cost is significantly less than texting, which is very helpful and everyone is so supportive.  I feel like we are a family after what has happened.  I had weeks where I didn’t message on the group because I’m in my twenties and feel I should be able to read or write or talk properly.  But then a couple of people would check up on me and we would take hours of their time ensuring that I was OK, it was the first time I fully realised and accepted what happened to me.

My son (aged just eight) helped me learn to read again all the time, as we learned together, and that will be something I will never forget!

Actually, my children always help me.  I’m still not able to feel my hand, so I struggle with zips and buttons and my older two children will always ask me

“Mummy do you want me to help you?”

We now feel we have a bright future and looking forward to our wedding in August 2022.  It does not matter how slow you go, as long as you do not stop!