Getting back on my feet

By Kris (beau and bear)

COVID-19 lockdown sucked for most people, but for me, it had a special sting in its tail.

In 2020 I was having surgery, when an artery in my neck burst and I had a massive stroke. The outcome was pretty bleak, my family was told that I would not recover and I would need to be put into care.

But hey, I have never followed a road that was easy. Before my stroke I was living a life of my dreams, I was travelling the world, running my own creative agency and was the captain of my local footy team. Can I get back to that life? I am not sure, but I am going to give it a bloody good go.

"During my recovery, I found support and comfort in my seven year old Labrador, Beau because I didn’t need to use words to communicate with him. There are so many therapeutic and healing benefits of the human-animal bond which go far beyond pure companionship."

From being bed ridden, with fatigue, aphasia and hemiplegia, I am far from being in care. I have started my own clothing business and I am volunteering at Stroke Foundation producing video to help raise awareness of stroke and its impact on people.

I knew very little about how stroke can upend a life, now I am living it and I can use my skills to help others.

Living with aphasia has been the hardest issue for me. I can live with hemiplegia, but as a communicator, not being able to speak is beyond frustrating. I often say, I can live without an arm or leg, but living without my words is something that I won't do.

So I am focused on getting functional movement, but I am fully and wholly immersing myself in situations where I have to speak, and I can see that I have improved a lot in two years. Bring on the next two!