I had a stroke aged 49 and had to relearn how to walk – but I’m now back in the gym, says former air hostess

SOMEONE has a stroke every five minutes in the UK.

But there are also 1.3 million stroke survivors with the rate of survival in Scotland around 85 per cent.

2

May is Action On Stroke Month, when charity The Stroke Association works to raise awareness of issues related to research and recovery.

Former flight attendant turned trainer Sharon Williams was just 49 when she was hit, like a bolt from the blue, with a stroke.

She was stunned when she was given her diagnosis and feared the worst.

But the 54-year-old from Renfrew battled through recovery and is not living a full life, back at work and the gym – and supporting others who have been through the same trauma.

Today she writes about the reality of strokes insisting they can happen to anyone, but like her, survivors can thrive.

HAVING a stroke has been one of the biggest things to happen to me.

I was 49, healthy, a mother and working full time as cabin crew for a UK airline, when out of the blue, I felt a firecracker going off in my head. It was a stroke.

The pain was intense and getting worse, and I felt very scared.

I will never forget the words from the doctor: “I’m sorry to tell you that you’ve had a stroke.”

It was staggering. I thought strokes only happened to older people. In fact, about a quarter of strokes happen to people of working age. Even children and babies can have a stroke.

Like many, my stroke had happened without warning, without a known cause, but it was going to change my life forever. I had some physiotherapy to help with walking after the stroke, but the hidden effects were brutal.

My head was chaotic. Finding the right thoughts and words in my head to make myself understood and get on with doing the things I needed to do, was an enormous struggle. The fatigue was like no other fatigue I’d experienced before.

It took so much mental strength to get myself out of bed in the morning and, by lunchtime, I needed to go back to bed again.

Thankfully that improved. I started a phased return to work, and I am now up to 80 per cent capacity, and have been promoted to a Line Trainer. This job involves teaching trainees all the matters regarding the operations in aircraft cabins.

I had to give up going to the gym, and teaching Highland dancing. But over the last while, I’ve been building up my energy, and I manage the gym twice a week.

I go to the Tiny Tots football with my two-year old grandson which zaps the energy out of me, but he’s a sheer delight, so I keep going.

If it hadn’t been for the help of my partner, family and friends, I don’t know where I would be today.

I was told by a friend to try the Renfrewshire Stroke Group. It was a place where I could go to meet other people affected by stroke, to share experiences, and enjoy a bit of banter.

I was welcomed so warmly, and it didn’t take me long to open up, and talk about the things that were worrying me, things that I might not share with my family, and I felt free to have a moan about the cards I’d been dealt.

Everyone was kind and supportive.

Hearing other people’s’ stories, made me realise just how little public understanding there is of stroke. Lots of people don’t realise it happens in the brain and needs to be treated as a medical emergency, that strokes happen to young people, and that you can recover from it.

You realise looking back, that when you have a stroke, you lose a part of you and your sense of worth. It is the most vital thing you must regain.

But you need others to help you do that.

The Stroke Association helped me to take back control over my life.

Reading the information they provide, helped me to understand what I was dealing with, the support I needed and where to find it.

Never did I think I would become part of that support. I put myself forward to get involved in volunteering there and am thrilled to be helping other people recover from a stroke.

I’m a Group Volunteer, and a telephone volunteer, being a friendly voice for stroke survivors who need someone to chat to. It’s so nice to give something back to the charity who helped me.

I would be lying if I said I don’t feel anxious about having another stroke. I do. But when something is so cruelly snatched away from you like it does with stroke, giving back takes on a whole new meaning.

This May is Stroke Awareness Month. I want to emphasise the reality of stroke. It could happen to any of us, and we could die from it.

But when you get access to vital treatment and support, you can survive, and lead a good life.

– For more information go to stroke.org.uk or call the Stroke Helpline on 0303 3033 100