Hi there! 

My name is Chris Fountain, and on the 11th of August 2022 I suffered a mini stroke (TIA) and was left unable to speak properly, this essentially means that a blood clot got into my brain and caused some damage to the left hand side, causing me to suffer with aphasia. This event came completely out of the blue and turned my life upside down. I thought of myself as being fit and healthy and always thought like many people, that strokes don’t happen to young people. When I eventually got out of hospital, I had so many questions.  I wondered whether my speech would ever get back to normal. I wondered if I’d be on medication for the rest of my life, and I wanted to know if this traumatic experience was likely to happen again.

This is when I found the Stroke Association. The information on their website was incredibly helpful during my time of need and really helped me to deal with the stress and confusion I was experiencing. From watching interviews with other stroke survivors, important information on lifestyle changes amongst other things, the Stoke Association gave me the hope and comfort I desperately needed.

I have been very fortunate that my recovery has been going incredibly well. My speech is almost back to 100% and I’m feeling really good. The doctors have discovered a hole in my heart (PFO) which could be a cause of my mini stroke. I’m due to go into hospital in the next couple of months to have this hole closed up. One thing the doctors said to me was that good cardiovascular health would be extremely beneficial for me going forward and so I decided to make running an important part of my fitness routine. 

I actually said years ago that I would never do a marathon. I never saw the point. But now I have the most personal reason to take part. After having a stroke myself.  I want to raise as much money as possible for the Stroke Association to continue with their hugely  valuable work and in turn help as many people as possible that have been through the same thing that I went through. The services, information and support that these guys provide is essential for anyone suffering from stokes and I feel like it is my duty to do everything I can to help them.

Not only do the stroke association offer support. They are also instrumental in bringing awareness to people like myself on the symptoms of strokes so that young people don’t dismiss them. Failing to recognise the problem and not getting urgent medical attention immediately could be seriously detrimental to recovery.

If you can spare anything, myself and I’m sure a lot of other stroke survivors and their families will be eternally grateful.

The Stroke Association are the UK's leading stroke charity, delivering amazing, life-changing support to over 70,000 stroke survivors and their families each year.Without people raising funds for the Stroke Association they could not provide the support and research that they do. Your donations are so important to rebuilding lives after stroke.Where your support goes:- £80 could allow a a stroke survivor to attend a six week communication computer course- £199 could pay for one hour of Helpline activity- £310 could pay for the initial training and expenses of a befriending volunteer- £1,685 could pay for a fitness coach to provide stroke specific exercise rehabilitation- £40,000 funds a Lectureship Award for stroke doctor, nurse, therapist or scientist for a year- £450,000 fully funds a Priority Programme Award in haemorrhagic stroke, vascular dementia and stroke, or the psychological and cognitive impact of stroke, which would run over the course of 5 years. 

Thankyou so much

Chris ❤️ #TeamStroke