Strokes can strike at any age, say couple who are fighting back

Over the last two years, with the help of her fianc, James Campbell, Julie has rebuilt her life. She has learnt to walk again and although she still has a way to go she is starting to plan a time when they can set the date for their wedding again.

"I want to be able to walk down the aisle with my dad without the use of sticks, and walk back again with James," says Julie, from Calverley.

The stroke left Julie paralysed down one side, although for sometime her family feared she might not pull through or could be left brain-damaged.

"When the doctors take you into a side room you know it isn't going to be good news," says James. "One doctor just shook his head."

Two years, an operation and hours and hours of physiotherapy have seen Julie able to take small steps unaided, although she does need a wheelchair to go any distance. Her left arm is constantly bent and she is undergoing physiotherapy to straighten it, but she believes she is lucky.

"The stroke was on the right side of my brain and didn't affect my speech or my memory really."

Now the couple want to raise awareness of stroke in young people. "When you mention stroke everyone says 'she can't have had a stroke, isn't that just old people?'" says James who has written a 40-chapter blog detailing Julie's road to recovery.

"Unlike the all too familiar FAST adverts we see and hear on the television, I want to make people understand that strokes don't take age into account.

"We want other stroke survivors and their carers to realise that there is light at the end of the tunnel, but most of all to make the public realise that strokes can and do happen to people of any age. I felt like I had to constantly justify the fact that Ju had had a stroke."

"Even on the stroke unit I was with people who were a lot older than me, which was hard as they had different issues from me," says Julie.

Julie's stroke happened in June 2008. She was taking part in a fly-ball competition with the couple's two beloved dogs Brooke and Murphy in Doncaster with friends.

"I got a call to say that Ju had been taken to hospital," says James. "I convinced myself that it was probably a panic attack. But as we drove down to Doncaster, another member of the team rang to say she had suffered pains in her left arm. It was then I started to realise that it was probably much more serious."

Doctors said a brain scan had showed a blood clot on Julie's brain and they were unsure how much damage it had caused.

"It was pretty touch and go for a while. It was only three weeks until the wedding and we asked whether she would be well enough by then. The doctor just shook his head."

Julie can remember nothing of her time in Doncaster hospital and subsequently the Royal Hallamshire in Sheffield. She was transferred to Bradford Royal Infirmary and then on to the Stroke Unit at St Luke's, Bradford.

After about three weeks of being sedated, they brought Julie round and started firing questions at her.

"They put pictures in front of her to see what she could remember. I put a picture of Murph our dog in front of her and she said 'It's Mooman' – and I knew she was going to be okay."

Mentally she may have been okay, but for Julie and her entire family, it has been a physical as well as an emotional battle.

"It is frustrating to be so dependent on people," says Julie who used to work for a PR firm in Leeds. "My family and James have been amazing, but I really miss being able to drive."

The couple moved in with Julie's parents but they have refused to have any special adaptations.

"I don't want to get reliant on things. I need to learn to do things by myself. Everyday I can do a little bit more which keeps me going," says Julie.

James and Julie say a sense of humour has also kept them going. "Not a day goes by without us having a laugh at something," says James.

His 40,000 word blog is a constant reminder of the hard work and determination over the last two years and also of the love and support of friends and family throughout.

www.juliesupdate.com

STROKES AND YOUNG PEOPLE

Stroke is the single largest cause of disability in the United Kingdom. 10,000 people under the age of 55 suffer a stroke every year – 1,000 of these are under the age of 30.

Recovery and rehabilitation present particular challenges for the younger survivor. One day fit and well, the next moment disabled, they must come to terms with physical and emotional changes as well as lifestyle adjustments – mobility, job, income, dependence, relationships.

With 75 per cent of strokes affecting those aged over 65, current provision inevitably focuses attention on the older stroke survivor. The specific and complex needs of the younger and the more active stroke survivor have not received the full attention that they deserve.