Fergus Teague

I'm Running the Great Manchester Run (half-marathon) to raise money for Stroke Association. I'm also doing this with 6-weeks of training. Pray for my legs :)

I met my friend Jessie recently when we both started the same job. I'm 24 and Jessie is 23. In December 2022, at 21-years old Jessie had a stroke that hospitalised her, left her almost completely blind for a week, and requiring 8-weeks to learn to walk again - all in her final year of university. Jessie has worked to raise awareness for this life-threatening condition, particularly in young people, partnering with the Stroke association previously; she highlights that her symptoms did not present as the FAST principle like in many cases. In Jessie's case her stroke was caused by an undiagnosed septal defect that manifested as two holes in her heart. In January 2024 Jessie had surgery to close these holes. Only a few weeks later we met when we started our jobs together. 

There are over 1.3 million stroke survivors in the UK, with 100,000 strokes happening in the UK each year. That's one stroke every five minutes.

Stroke Association support people in rebuilding their lives after stroke. They believe everyone deserves to live the best life they can after stroke, so they work with the stroke community to make sure people affected by stroke get the very best care and support. Stroke Association rely on your support to provide vital services, campaign for better stroke care and fund research into preventative and rehabilitative treatments.