“Getting back upstairs again? It was the best thing in the world.”

Claire's story

Claire’s busy, family-filled life was turned upside down in April 2020 when she had a sudden stroke. A stroke is where a blockage stops the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain, damaging the tissue. Within a few hours, Claire was unable to utter any sounds at all and could barely move.

The stroke came at the start of the first lockdown. Her husband Rob had just lost work, so Claire had taken on extra shifts as a care worker. “I loved looking after the older ladies,” she remembers. “They were beautiful people. They still say hello to me when I see them on the street.”

It was baking hot, the day it all happened. Claire was racing down the hill to pick up a prescription for her aunt. “My sister went by in the car, and she said later that there was something wrong with my arm when I waved to her,” Claire says. “I think the stroke had already begun at that point. I remember coming home and sitting on the sofa. I was being silly, saying silly things. I didn’t know what was going on. My daughter was telling me to speak, but I couldn’t do it. We thought it was funny to start with. I don’t really remember much after that.”

When Rob came home he immediately knew there was something wrong. “I remembered that ‘FAST’ thing I’d heard on the radio – the signs of a stroke: Face, Arms, Speech and Time. Claire’s face had a fairly obvious droop, and with her speech going all strange… I knew you had to be quick so I called the ambulance straight away,” he says.

Claire was rushed to hospital and stayed in for six weeks, with some time in intensive care. She has two daughters aged 10 and 15 but because of Covid-19 wasn’t allowed any visits for a month. She could only try to smile at her family through a window.

“It was a nightmare,” says Claire. “They were lovely people in the hospital, but I was missing my family so much.” Near the end of her stay, Claire was finally able to see them in the hospital courtyard outside. “It was out of this world to see them again – very emotional. We took lots of selfies in PPE,” she says.

Claire was discharged after a six-week stay in hospital in a wheelchair. At that point, she could eat with her left hand but had no movement in her right arm and couldn’t walk or speak.

Our services in action

Our Neuro and Stroke team visited her on her first day at home. “I was amazed,” says Rob. “We felt completely wrapped up by the service. Really quickly they arranged the installation of ramps and handles and all the other equipment we suddenly needed and they gave us so much advice and support.”

The Neuro and Stroke team quickly arranged for specialist carers to visit Claire twice a day. These Rehab Assistants are trained to use therapy techniques as they support with daily tasks. So they worked on increasing Claire’s strength and independence when she was doing things in the kitchen, or moving from sitting to standing.

The team’s Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists (OTs) also put together a targeted rehab programme. It was gruelling work at times, but Claire eventually built up to 600 exercise repetitions. “The OTs and physios were brilliant,” says Claire. “Doing all those exercises was hard at first, but I understood why I needed to do them. The day I could get myself back up the stairs, I was ecstatic. To see my children in their bedrooms – it was the best thing in the world.”

Claire was also desperate to work on her speech. “That was the worst part,” says Claire. “I couldn’t say my daughter’s name. It was bad. I couldn’t say any sounds at all.” Claire’s stroke caused apraxia, which is where the mouth finds it difficult to shape the sounds and aphasia, which makes it hard to find and use words effectively.

Speech and Language Therapist Sarah worked intensively with Claire to help her start speaking again from scratch. Claire started with simple words like ‘bee’ and ‘key’, using a mirror to watch her lips and re-learn how to shape the sounds. With Sarah, she repeated tasks to help her find words, describe pictures and make sentences and as Claire improved, Sarah made the tasks harder.

They worked together for six months to bring back her speech. “With this job you are very embedded in someone’s life, in their family and their home. I feel like Claire is a friend,” says Sarah. That special relationship kept her going, Claire says. “Sarah was amazing. She’s so friendly and caring. We laughed a lot, but there were tears too. Without her I don’t know what I would have done,” she says.

Ongoing support

The sheer scale of the task has sometimes felt overwhelming, but Claire’s family have kept her going. “We often remind her how far she’s come,” says her husband Rob. “It’s amazing, how much her speech and mobility have come on. The work she’s done is an inspiration. The girls are so proud of her.”

Claire’s recovery also felt daunting for Rob, as it meant that support from the Stroke and Neuro team would gradually reduce. “I did feel that weight on my shoulders. I mean, the pace she does the stairs… My heart was in my mouth to start with. But I’m used to it now. It’s great. I know she can do everything – she’s cracking on. There’s no stopping this one. If she says she’ll do something, she’ll do it,” he says.

Rob also knows that he can ring the team’s office and talk to anyone whenever he needs to. “The service has a really nice family feel. Chances are the person on the end of the phone in the team knows us when we call. They’re still on hand for anything we need,” he says.

For Sarah, seeing Claire’s progress makes her feel proud: “To see her from the beginning with very little communication to now, where she just opens her mouth and chats – it’s lovely. To make that improvement is huge.”

As for Claire, “The future feels good. I’m looking forward to it. It’s ever so good to have some normality. I can go out for a walk or to the pub. And now I can sit and chat with my daughters, go through their homework, sort their bedrooms out, go to school with them – and tell them off!

“I’ve even been to the beach,” she says. “That was amazing. Rob held onto my arm, and we managed okay.”