The Stroke Association – They need help – You need to know

Hello I’m Amy and welcome to my blog, thank you for taking an interest in not only my blog but my charity. The stroke association is a charity very close to my heart for many reasons. People all over the world are having strokes every year and it is the cause of 4.4 million deaths a year. When you have finished reading my blog I hope that you will feel more informed about the stroke association and what they do and feel that you want to help.

A stroke can happen to any one young and old, here is an inspiring example:

We had no idea that it could happen to children. Jacob was three, almost four, and he woke up in the night feeling sick, and we thought it was just a childhood illness, so we cleaned him up and he slept with me, very heavily. When we woke him he was semi-conscious, drowsy and sleepy. We were getting worried, and we rang the doctor, and between the call and the doctor arriving he deteriorated and was staggering around. The doctor took one look at him and decided to get him to hospital. No one had a clue what was wrong with him. The doctors thought it was encephalitis, then he went for an MRI scan, and later an angiogram. He had the stroke on October 12, and we didn't get the exact diagnosis until Christmas. It was a relief - at least we knew what it was then. He was paralysed down the right side of his body, and he was as helpless as a new-born baby. A social worker put us in touch with a specialist brain injury unit.

My husband and I learnt the techniques, and we worked hard with him every day. The therapy was intensive. I spent every minute of every hour working on him. He was only three, so I had to make it fun - we'd play games all the time. I'd dip his right hand in chocolate spread, and ask him to lick it off! The therapy helped him enormously. It took four or five weeks before we saw any sign of recovery; when we saw the tiniest sign of movement, it was amazing. Nowadays, he's very active, very chatty. He's sociable and has lots of friends, and is so easy-going - he's a real charmer and very caring. Now he has weakness on the right hand side of his body, but he can play tennis and run and walk. A year after it happened he started mainstream school. We were determined that he would do that. He's won a national Child of Achievement award and a Life After Stroke award too.

It just goes to show what can happen and that it can happen to anyone even those who have already had a stroke.
Thank you again for reading my blog, please post your thoughts. Also it would be great if you could answer the following questions if you do please can you inform me of your town and country (if you don’t live in the uk)

• Had you heard of what a stroke could do before?
• Do you now feel more informed?
• Would you be prepared to do one of the following…

Make a donation
Start or join a fundraising campaign
Tell your friends and family about the Stroke Association
Become a volunteer

You can find out more info available at http://www.stroke.org.uk Many thanks Amy