What is a stroke?

A stroke is a brain attack. It happens when the blood supply to the brain is disrupted. Most strokes occur when a blood clot blocks the flow of blood to the brain. Some strokes are caused by bleeding in or around the brain from a burst blood vessel.

My Dad.

In 1990, 6 months after retiring, my dad had what is called a TIA (transient ischaemic attack) sometimes called a mini-stroke. For many hours he did not know where he was, where he had been that day or anything you told him literally 10 seconds previous. Just over 10 years later in 2001, he had a full stroke which affected his speech, and right arm and leg. He has never fully recovered and requires a zimmer frame to walk. But he was one of the lucky ones as you will see below.

Facts about stroke

Every 5 minutes someone in the UK has a stroke.Each year an estimated 150,000 people in the UK have a stroke. Stroke is the third most common cause of death in the UK. A quarter of a million people in England and Wales are living with long-term disability as a result of stroke.

What is The Stroke Association?

It is the only charity solely concerned with combating stroke in people of all ages. They want a world where there are fewer strokes and all those touched by stroke get the help they need. Their mission is to prevent strokes and reduce their affect through providing services, campaigning, education and research. The stroke association helped my dad, and so now I will be helping raise funds for them.

I will be doing a Firewalk for The Stroke Association on Sunday February 20, 2011

The firewalk will involve walking barefoot over a 5 - 6 meter strip of burning hot embers reaching temperatures of 1300 Degrees F. A fire-team builds the fire, and when it has burned to red-hot embers it is raked level and prepared for the walk. I will remove my footwear and walk across the coals!

Please sponsor me...

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and sponsor me now.

Thank You.

Kind regards.

Paul Hopfensperger (Hoffy)