In 2017,
Hilary Wehby, a stroke survivor from Jamaica, approached the World Stroke
Organization about her desire to establish a stroke foundation to support and educate
stroke survivors in her country. Two years on,
the Stroke Foundation of Jamaica has become a new member of WSO and
Hilary is about to launch her book, My New Normal: Reflections of a Stroke
Survivor.
Before her stroke in 2015,
Hilary lived a very full and active life; a mother of three children and
married for nearly 30 years to a very busy husband. She was involved in a
Christian Women's Ministry, and working full time as a senior new product
development manager at a fast-paced food company. Life changed dramatically for
Hilary when she had her stroke; she was no longer able to work at the place she
had been employed for 31 years. Her life began to revolve around her
therapy schedule and her family. She was not able to drive and had to depend on
others to get around.
Hilary began
her journey to a new normal with the belief that her connections in Jamaica
with doctors, nursing and counselling networks, Christian ministry and the
business community locally, would be useful in her mission to support and
educate stroke survivors. ‘I am excited at the prospect of contributing to
making education and assistance more widely accessible’ says Hilary.
Hilary has through the years, balanced being a devoted
wife and mother, with outstanding scholastic achievement, professional service
and social outreach. Describing her “pre-stroke” self, as being “a busybody-always-on-the-go- miss
diligent-thorough-always-on-top-of-things person”, she now embrace her “new
normal” as enabling and empowering
her.
Hilary employed her always on the go attitude and
connections across various networks, to build the new stroke support
organization in Jamaica. The Stroke Foundation of Jamaica’s goals are to reduce
the burden of stroke to patients, caregivers and the country through
prevention, treatment and long-term care, and support stroke survivors to
achieve the highest possible quality of independent life. The foundation is at the beginning of its work and is currently exploring collaborations with a range of stakeholders in Jamaica.
Hilary’s book, My
New Normal: Reflections of a Stroke Survivor,
will be launched at an event in Kingston, Jamaica on March 7, 2019.
