Reconnecting with life: stories of life after stroke

Emmanuel worked as an engineer in the Nigerian Dept of Trade and Industry before his stroke left him with aphasia. However, his love of gardening leads him to transform an unused piece of ground into a garden that is a haven of peace in the centre of London.

For two years following his stroke, Alan didn’t know that he had aphasia. After that, he is determined to recover as much of his life as possible, and works with a variety of organisations to help others suffering from aphasia, ending up at Connect.

Jane is a civil service lawyer before her stroke leaves her with aphasia. Her love of music comes into its own as she now leads music appreciation groups in which the music is as varied and as vibrant as the colours of the rainbow.

People with aphasia benefit from individual speech therapy, which isn’t always easy to come by.

A stroke leaves Derek’s intelligent, vivacious, active wife unable to feed or look after herself, unable to communicate or even acknowledge Derek. He imagines a world where such a thing would not happen...

Frustration at the lack of action and the indifference of some staff in an NHS hospital leads a young stroke victim to request his own discharge after two days so that he can pursue a private MRI scan and treatment via his GP.

The timely, appropriate treatment received by one stroke patient exemplifies the better future envisaged in the story 'Imagine'.