I had a stroke 8 May 2024. It was the strangest day of my life!

My recovery, in many ways, has been remarkable and when you meet me you would hardly know but like many stroke survivors and those with brain injury I am more sensitive to noise and heat and suffer with fatigue along with a number of other little oddities (my right arm doesn't swing when I walk!!).

I was so pleased to stumble across Different Strokes charity on Facebook, they are a small, national charity supporting working age and younger stroke survivors. The majority of staff and trustees are stroke survivors themselves or have a close personal connection to stroke and they understand fatigue and the frustrations of having a stroke.

I have mostly benefitted from peer to peer support but the also offer a telephone help line, grants for equipment and facilitate face to face meetings.

I would like to support this charity whilst pushing myself to show that whilst I will always carry the scars of a stroke in my brain I can achieve the same physical challenges as before my stroke.

My goal is to complete a half marathon before the end of March. I haven't completed a half marathon for more than a decade so this is a challenge.