Team Sadd

We are taking part in the Great North Run as part of #TeamStroke

We have joined #TeamStroke for the Great North Run.

On 23rd June, 2023. I suffered from an ischaemic stroke. This means that I had a blood clot on my brain that blocked the flow of blood and oxygen. I am very fortunate to have made a quick and full recovery. 

This page is by no means a 'woe is me' post but a hope to raise awareness of strokes in 'younger' people and to the wonderful work that the Stroke Association does. 

I had my stroke at work. Luckily, it was an INSET day so there were no children. Luckily, I had finished delivering the content of the INSET to the rest of the staff. Luckily, my colleagues who were with me were amazing. As soon as they noticed that I wasn't ok, they leapt into action and before I knew it, I was heading to Stepping Hill in an ambulance. 

I came out of hospital the following day after confirmation of a stroke, my speech was ok, my face was less droopy and I felt ok. I honestly thought I was 100% better. Over the next weeks, I found out that I was ok physically, but whenever I needed to use my brain I found it really difficult! Things I found particularly difficult included doing jigsaws with William, map reading, looking for things in the shops, colouring in, using a computer, making lists etc...  This is where the stroke association came to the rescue. I phoned them a number of times for advice and reassurance when I was struggling with 'not being ok'. I learnt that I was suffering from 'Post Stroke Fatigue' something that I had to learn a lot about in the following months. 

The Stroke Association hooked me up with the relevant people within the NHS. These specialists then helped me get back on track and gradually get back to work over a six month period. Both the Stroke Association and the Tameside NHS Stroke Team were always at the end of the phone if I needed them, and if I didn't call them, they would phone to check in with me. 

 So here we are almost a year later. It's been tough and tiring getting back into the swing of my busy life but i'm more or less there. After lots of tests, they never found the cause of my stroke. It was classed as a malfunction - I am a medical mystery! Thankfully, my family and friends are awesome and have obviously been very supportive. William is oblivious - just how I wanted it to be. Work have also been great and very patient - which I am very grateful for. 

I really appreciate the support i've received from  everyone, therefore when I was mindlessly scrolling through facebook and The Stroke Association popped up asking if i'd like to run The Great North Run, I immediately signed up. Phil is joining me too so it's a real 'Team Sadd' effort. 

It's been a few years since I last ran 13.1 miles, and it will be Phil's first half marathon - it's going to be a challenge for us both. So, if you can, please sponsor us!

I hope that none of my family or friends ever suffer from a stroke but you never ever know what is around the corner - so let's support these wonderful charities who support us in our times of need! 

Thank you! Zoe and Phil x 

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.

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