Paralysed and unable to speak, Angharad knew help was needed…FAST
Gazing in awe at the elephants, me, my husband Joe and our daughter Cari, seven, were admiring the animals at a UK safari park.
But as we walked along, I started to wince at the pain in my leg.
After being involved in a
car accident 10 years ago, I still felt twinges sometimes, and the previous week I’d been in Portugal for a hen do.
‘Must have overdone it,’ I told Joe.
Only by the end of our trip,
I was limping.
I collapsed into bed at 9pm, exhausted. Then I woke to the room spinning.
I tried to move my right arm but couldn’t. My leg wouldn’t budge either.
Panic set in as I remembered my grandmother, who’d suffered numerous strokes.
Instantly, I knew that’s what was happening to me.
‘Joe, I’m having a stroke,’
I tried to say, but it sounded like gibberish.
But as soon as he looked at me, he knew, and he jumped into action, calling 999.
‘Her face has dropped,’ he said.
I had the symptoms of the FAST (face, arms, speech and time) acronym.
Joe drove me to hospital.
By then, my face and speech had returned to normal.
But the following day, my 32nd birthday, an MRI scan confirmed I’d had a stroke.
What will this mean for Cari? I fretted.
The medical team at the hospital determined that an undiagnosed hole in my heart had allowed a blood clot to travel to my brain, causing the stroke.
After six days, I was discharged with a plan for nurses to care for me at home.
But there, reality hit.
Looking around at the
rails that had been fitted,
plus the Zimmer frame and wheelchair, my house didn’t feel like home.
Cari had to help me put my socks on, and I couldn’t walk her to school.
Struggling, I read about the charity Stroke Association.
A man called Dave was my local contact.
He’d also had a stroke young, and was a parent.
I sent him an email and he replied straightaway.
Visiting me a few days later, he arrived with an interactive book for Cari, to explain what had happened.
‘How can I still be a mum to her?’ I confided.
Dave shared the strategies he’d put in place with his son, and I was comforted to know there was light at the end of the tunnel.
Nine months on, I still have fatigue and can struggle with mobility, but I am slowly improving.
As a family, we’ve raised more than £1700 for the Stroke Association.
Before my stroke, I’d come home late and stressed from my job, but it wasn’t worth it.
Now I’m taking this time for my recovery and my family.
By Angharad Dennis, 32, Swansea