Before I recount my journey, here is an important note to consider.

If you live in a multi-story house with stairs like these, let me say up front that you will face a challenge if an emergency arises and you are located upstairs.

It is not easy for any of the emergency services (ambulance) to get you down these steps, so that will be your first challenge.

In my case, I managed to bum-shuffle (while suffering the bleed above) down these steps to get to the ambulance. I would need to call upon that determination once again later in my recovery to make it home.

Unfortunately, the initial responders did not think it was stroke, but my wife thought that my eyes looked funny - that is why I think the B.E-F.A.S.T. signs of stroke have merit.

My stroke occurred when an irregular connection between arteries and veins in my brain started to bleed. This irregular connection is known as a dural arteriovenous fistula (dAVF), a type of arteriovenous malformation (AVM).

What initially felt like a severe-headache or migraine late morning, quickly spiraled later that night into a 2-week coma and spending 32 days in two hospitals.

During that time, I underwent a variety of procedures - one of them producing the scar as shown here. 

Apart from leaving a scar, this procedure permanently removed a piece of bone from my skull. This was done to alleviate the pressure of bleeding into a confined space.

Something like this happened to me to get this scar 

As my stroke occurred during the pandemic and the restrictions in Victoria at the time, it took 3 days for all the procedures to occur as there were staffing issues due some staff being exposed to a covid case in the cafeteria.

When I left the house in the ambulance, my wife was unable to attend due to restrictions with the pandemic. Unfortunately, the signs of stroke weren't seen, and she was told I would be back soon. Later that night, after the full extent of my condition was revealed by the MRI, along with the news of my stroke, my wife was told that I would not be coming home soon and that I could only be seen for "end of life".

To not be asked to come into the hospital was a good thing, for that meant I had not given in to being lost by stroke and was still alive.

Other procedures included

• a cerebral angiogram to identify the extent of the source of the bleeding (shown left). I have had at least two of these - one unconscious and one conscious.

• inserting a glue-like substance and coils into the abnormal blood vessels to block them off. This is the band of white seen in the right-hand side of the image above. 

The other thing that occurs is that you find yourself with multiple tubes (feeding, medication/pain relief, feeding, sensors and drainage) inserted in or connected to nearly all parts of the body. One connection I do remember that was stitched into place in or on my skull is what I referred to as the "whipper snipper cord". As I recall, it was orange in colour and it reminded me of the coil used in a whipper snipper. 

Unlike what you see on films and television, expect to end up with the world's worst haircut. In my case, I was fortunate to have my beard remain untouched. The image above (scar at the back of the head) was taken after I got home and could finally get a trim.

Another point to mention here is that being in ICU is like being on big brother as you are under 24 hours surveillance and in my case, a full-time dedicated nurse monitored me 24/7.

During my procedures I was intubated to manage my breathing. When it came time to remove the tube, I had difficulty breathing on my own and had developed an infection/fever, so a tracheostomy was needed.

And yes, that does mean I had the experience of someone slitting my throat.

Animation of a tracheostomy 

As a result of the tracheostomy, it meant I had the unfortunate experience of waking from a two-week coma with a brain scrambled by stroke, being unable to speak, hooked up to multiple tubes and surrounded by strangers. Apart from eye and hand gestures, my only other form of communication was to try and write something on a small whiteboard which was extremely challenging. How challenging? Imagine trying to communicate with people you've never met before whilst suffering blurred eyesight, brain fog, short term memory loss and using your non-dominate hand to write with and you might come close to what I experienced.

Brian A Beh, a stroke survivor, has said that it took him over 3 years to learn to write properly after his stroke. Part of me wonders if this was possibly some sort of test to assess what impacts I may have happened during my stroke. If you're a stroke researcher and reading this, this may be an area worth considering.

One thing not widely mentioned about a tracheostomy is the fact that the tube needs to be regularly suctioned to remove secretions and mucus from the airways. This is something that will certainly make your eyes water.

Having finally awoken from an inadequate attempt at the "world's longest sleep-in" (but I did get to totally avoid lockdown 5 due to coma), the hard work began.

That started with being moved from ICU to the ward.

The good news is that my wife was allowed to see me for a very short visit as they wanted her to drop off my iPad to help in my recovery. That was quite emotional as communication was limited. I would not get to see my wife in person again until I was discharged from the next hospital.

When a body hasn't moved for a length of time, muscles decline, and it takes a lot of effort to move. I remember being put into the crane to lift me into a chair so I could start practicing sitting in a chair. I know I certainly didn't have any strength left at the time to lift myself out of the bed.

The other key point here is that until I woke up, it was not known what defects/impairments had occurred as a result of my experience.

Stroke is change and you have choice to make. I made the choice to fight, work hard and heal to the best of my ability.

In my opinion - A stroke is a crucible, it will test your mettle to the fullest. Be the blade strengthened by the fire, and do not yield to the dying of the light.

During a follow up visit in 2024, I was told that I was left with a scar from my stroke (as shown to the left).

Some of my early recovery time was spent learning what physically worked and what didn't. Some of this was masked by my overall weakness.

From a mental perspective, my experience had a Zen-like quality to it as I was existing in the moment. All those secondary thoughts and distractions were not present. It is worth noting that the lights were on, but comprehension was still a little slow. This changed over time.

One of the more interesting experiences was learning to speak with a tracheostomy as that involved a speaking cap being put on the end of the tube for short periods of time. The other option when the speaking cap was not attached was to cover the hole in your neck to speak. This continued until the trach was removed (as seen to the left) and the wound closed and dressed.

A major part of recovery was rebuilding the strength to do all those little things that get taken for granted, from toileting, showering, eating and then moving.

In my case, I was fortunate and recovered fairly quickly. My attitude helped immensely as I stated that "I am here to work and get better, don't take it easy on me." Learning to put one foot in front of the other is easy, it is learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss that is hard.

I progressed and was sent back to my local hospital (where my first MRI occurred) and there into rehabilitation. My stay may have been shorter except for the fact that the physios didn't work on the weekends. Normally, a patient would be able to mingle in a social room during this time, but this was not available due to the covid restrictions in place. I spent my time walking the halls and finding stairs to test myself. To graduate as it were, and be allowed home, I needed to show that I was somewhat self-sufficient by making some toast and a cup of tea in the kitchen (which I and one other were only allowed in at the time).

My discharge from the hospital was interesting as they wanted to do it in the foyer/street, but my wife told them she would refuse to pick me up if they didn't allow her onto the ward to have a proper handover. This proved justifiable after the hour it took to go through all the medication, wound care, home care items (shower chair hire), paperwork and other bits and pieces.

Getting home after 32 days away was emotional especially since I wasn't permitted to see my family in person during my hospitalisation. Post-care involved an assessment and some physio sessions at home, but the poor staff had to suit up (masks, shields, gowns, gloves) just to visit. Since my wife and I had been regularly working with a personal trainer prior to the stroke, a lot of the recovery exercises were familiar, and I quickly adapted.

The other thing which I did which I think helped my recovery was that I turned the ordinary into a healing opportunity. For example, remember those stairs I started with, I was up those each night and down them each morning. While waiting for the kettle to boil, I would practice standing on one leg or balancing while I moved one foot to each point of a tile. Having kitchen benches nearby to stabilise oneself (if needed) helped mitigate the risk.

I took walks outside to build strength. My greatest challenge whilst walking related to maintaining balance whilst moving my head and my field of vision. I was very fortunate mentally, but it did take some time to get back up to speed. 

After 3 months, I was back at work for short periods of time and fully back at work after 6 months.

To celebrate my achievement and hard work, I decided that I would do 5.2km at Run Melbourne as it was being held on the second anniversary of my stroke.

On that day (16 July 2023), I completed the 5.2km Run Melbourne event with a chip time of 37:32 (times shown to the left), which included a fast finish.

While finishing fast was my signature move at parkrun, it was not until my 100th post-stroke run (I had done 4 parkruns prior to my stroke and the pandemic), I got to thinking that I could turn my signature move from fast to FAST.

This was the start of my attempt to start a running club/group to fight stroke.

Little by little, step by step, healing takes place.
It was not easy, but determination and creativity got me far. 

What I will say to you is

Don't wait.

Instead of lying there, why not move?

Instead of moving, why not walk?

Instead of walking, why not run?

Instead of running, why not soar to finish F.A.S.T for Stroke Awareness and Prevention?