I had my stroke 24 years ago and I am a founder member of the Freedom Stroke Club. I have made many new friends in the Freedom Stroke Club such as Glen, Sue, Richard, Rita, Mavis and Norman, we regularly go out for a meal together after meetings. I can communicate at the meetings and be at ease with people like myself stroke survivors we have lots of fun together.

I was speaking to one of our members and asking what he gains from coming to our meetings. He told me that he has a close friend who suffered a stroke and he gains valuable information which he feels would help if an emergency arose and he knows when to get medical help. Its good being able to talk to others in a similar situation and listen to their experiences. I now understand how stroke can affect many aspects of a person’s life and can watch for changes that would tell me that my friend is not feeling well or has a low mood.

Hi All,

My name is Glen, and in July 2011, I unfortunately suffered a stroke in my Occipital lobe, this lobe is the area of the brain in which your vision is processed and I suffered a slight loss of vision, but fortunately had no other symptoms. In the same year, my wife (Sue) and I joined the Freedom Stroke Club, as our lives had taken a bit of a knockback not knowing what the future now held, my driving licence had been suspended and I was being assessed by a DVLA medical team to see if I met the driving criteria.

I had always been a confident outgoing sort of person but now my confidence and self-esteem had hit an all-time low, but thanks to the members of the Freedom Stroke Club who all showed such warm, caring support, and friendship that we have been able to get our lives back on track, the monthly meetings, the day trips out, visits to the Hull Theatre Pantomime, have all enriched the lives of Sue and I, and we have built some wonderful friendships over the last six years.

In conclusion, strokes not only devastate the life of the stroke survivor but also the lives of their loved ones and this is often not considered, but these support groups can be used as a short term fix to help stroke survivors and their carers get their lives back on track with help and support, or like us, become long term members who enjoy the friendship and camaraderie that a support group can provide.

My best regards to all who read this

Glen G Wood