Craig Pankhurst, a stroke survivor
from the UK, has established an exciting new stroke support organisation that
combines his pre and post stroke life to support the recovery of stroke
survivors using physical exercise.
Married with
two daughters, two dogs and a cat, Craig is a keen sports fan and spent his
younger years swimming and playing football, becoming an international swimmer in
the 1990s.
Craig had a
stroke on 28th April 2018, at the age of 39.
‘It
was in the act of blinking my eyes at 6am that I first realised I was not in a
good way. The overwhelming feeling of the room spinning uncontrollably, yet in
darkness as my vision had gone, resulted in a feeling of dread and fear. Little
did I realise that at the age of 39 I was in mid-ischemic stroke and that life
was about to change forever’.
Craig was admitted to Arrowe Park hospital for CT and
MRI scans, with friends and family by his side. He had significant damage to
his brain, with further scans showing a dissection of the vertebral artery.
Craig’s biggest issue is post-stroke fatigue. ‘It is a
dreadful experience that a sufferer has to live with every day. It is not like
being tired’, says Craig. He manages his fatigue via a traffic light system.
When he’s in his ’green zone’ Craig’s able to function pretty much as he could
pre-stroke, albeit with a slight left-side weakness and concentration deficit.
When in his ‘amber zone’, his speech and thought processes slow down and his
left side weakness is more pronounced. In ‘red zone’, Craig becomes very
limited in his movement and struggles to communicate effectively.
Craig has
always been a very motivated individual who thrives on setting goals. He believes
these traits will continue to support him in his recovery. ‘Under the care of the Walton Centre in
Liverpool, I continue to manage my rehabilitation to ensure I am best placed to
live a positive and full life. This is why I wanted to start a charity to
inspire fellow stroke survivors to embrace their new life in a similar,
positive way. Meeting other stroke survivors, I realised that self-image and
self-esteem are significantly affected and after the initial rehabilitation
phase patients are signed off to continue their recovery on their own,
exacerbating this loss of confidence. What has really helped me has been to
find a personal trainer and a gym that can support my physical recovery,
improving my self-confidence. A Stroke of Luck will do the same for survivors
who may not have the same expertise or resources to do this for themselves, and
need a bit of support’.
A Stroke of
Luck launched on 1st May 2019, only a few days after the first
anniversary of Craig’s stroke, and the beginning of Stroke Awareness Month. There
are over 1.2 million stroke survivors in the UK and 100,000 new
strokes each year. Over two thirds of these survivors leave hospital with a
disability. ‘We need to provide the opportunity for survivors to get active and
promote physical rehabilitation for the benefit of all’, says Craig.
A Stroke of Luck will match stroke survivors with fitness professionals to help
them to get active. A web platform is being developed where stroke survivors will register to become
a member of the ‘A Stroke of Luck
Survivor’s Club’, with access to health
and wellbeing advice as well as fitness videos.
Personal trainers
will also register to become a member of the ‘A Stroke of Luck Expert’s Club’. Funding received by A Stroke of Luck will be
converted to credits that can be used by the stroke survivor to book a session
with a qualified A Stroke of Luck approved personal trainer.
Friday 6th
September 2019 will be the official launch of the A Stroke of Luck membership
portal. ‘We don’t just want stroke survivors to survive, we want them to THRIVE.
We would like to enhance the lives of every stroke survivor, regardless of
their post-stroke effects, by giving them access to long-term physical and
emotional care following the discharge from medical professionals’, says Craig.
For more information and to support A
Stroke of Luck:
This blog includes extracts from the Wirral Life article Stroke
Survivor Launches New Charity https://www.wirrallife.com/digital-issue
