When she was only 34 years old, Charlene, a mum to two boys, had a stroke in October 2020.
She said: “I was in my brother’s house and I was having a drink for his birthday. I started feeling really dizzy, so decided to head home. When I got into my house, I went to the bathroom and was sick.
"Then, my symptoms got much worse and I realised I was having a stroke. I lost power in my leg and hand on my right-hand side, and my ability to talk. I managed to crawl to my bedroom, but I couldn’t get up on the bed. I lay there waiting for someone to find me all night. My dad didn’t come down until the next day, when he called an ambulance.”
Charlene was brought to Craigavon hospital where she was told she had suffered a massive stroke. She was then transferred to Belfast, where she underwent surgery to have a stent fitted in an artery in her neck. Following her operation, Charlene faced a long road to recovery. “I was in hospital for six weeks and I couldn’t speak a word when I got out. I stayed at my mum’s house for the first week, but I have two boys, Odhran who is 13, and nine-year-old Daitihi, and I care for my oldest as he uses a wheelchair. I wanted to get back home for them.”
Gradually, with the help of a speech and language therapist and occupational therapist, Charlene’s speech and right-sided weakness began to improve.
“They gave me exercises to do which helped, but my speech is still coming back now. It’s called Aphasia. I still jumble my words and find it hard to communicate,”
Charlene then heard about the local Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke PREP (Post Rehab Exercise Programme) and started going.
“The PREP group is brilliant – we were made really welcome. Although the others at the group don’t have Aphasia like me, it’s still helpful to speak to them and we can all share what we’re going through.”
Charlene now volunteers a few hours a week with a PREP group in Craigavon to help others going through a similar experience.
"Volunteering gives me something to look forward to. It’s nice to share my experience of what I went through with other people and to reassure them that there is life on the other side of stroke.”
