On Tuesday 31st July 2018 my world got turned upside down forever, and although I consider myself lucky to be alive, my life has changed beyond all recognition. 

I woke up with paralysis on my left side after shrugging it off as a trapped nerve it failed to go, after long discussions with the wife (Ruth) I reluctantly made my way to A&E at Tunbridge Wells Hospital. By now my speech has started to slur and I was struggling to get words out.  After being seen by a really switched on Nurse Practitioner, she called a Stroke Nurse because she wasn't happy about it.  After numerous tests I was seen by a Stroke Consultant who took me for a MRI scan. From there I was taken to a side room.

The words "I'm really sorry, and there's no easy way to say this, but you have had a Stroke" still upsets me.

How can I have a stroke ? I'm 39 year old fit Police Officer!  I was going to the gym three times a week. I had finally joined Traffic so I was doing less nights, and my job was less stressful. I was feeling the best I had in years.

So it turned out I had a hole in my heart (PFO). I've had it since birth and 1 in 4 people have it, so its very common and for 39 years had no issues with it whatsoever, but in some people  clots can build up inside. So a clot passed through and went straight to my brain blocking blood flow causing damage to two separate parts of my brain. This was the reason why I had issues with my arm and hand, and speech. After more tests I was sent home with lots of medication. 

But two days later it happened again, this time affecting my left leg.  I ended up being admitted to the Acute Stroke Ward where I spent 5 days having intense Physical Therapy and more tests! The latest MRI showed that another clot had damaged two more parts of my brain, unfortunately one of the areas being the Frontal Lobe.

On being released from Hospital I had most of the feeling and movement back in my left arm and hand, and over the coming weeks this returned back to normal. My leg took longer and even now I have weakness in my left hip muscles which cause it to become tired. 

I came out of Hospital without much information as everything is geared towards elderly Stroke Survivors. I don't recall how I found Different Strokes but I'm so glad I did. 

Different Strokes is for young stroke survivor's and their website was a wealth of information and I was able read and find out that not all is lost and I wasn't alone. I joined the Facebook page and was to talk to other people who had been and were going through the same thing. I was incredibly luckily to have amazing support from Ruth, Family and Friends. 

Fast forward 2 1/2 years and I may look the same and seem fine but I have been changed forever.  My brain, which I took for granted, wont work like before. I become exhausted very quickly when using my brain, I struggle with multi tasking and anything complex , I can't do busy crowds, I find noise affects me which accumulates with my speech failing - stopping me from being able to communicate effectively and eventually I fall asleep. This means I'm unable to work as a Police Officer any more and I am unlikely to ever work again for more than a few hours a week.

I am extremely lucky and many Stroke Survivors have crippling debilitating effects where Different Strokes provide help and companionship. 

After having the an operation which fixed my hole in my heart, one of my best friends Dom, like many of my friends, helped me throughout and he motivated me to start running again.  Over many months I have worked up to 5k then to 10k. 

Then out of the blue Different Strokes stated they had spaces available for the London Landmarks Half Marathon. After a day of contemplating I decided it would be a fitting Challenge for me: it will be tough and will take a lot out of me to achieve but I cant think of a better way of raising money for a brilliant charity such a Different Strokes who have helped so many people over the years and will continue to do so especially after all your kind donations.  

However I knew that I wouldn't be able to do it without help, as I have no idea how my brain will react to running 13.1 miles in a busy environment so without asking him I signed Dom up, luckily he agreed to do it afterwards. 

 So please can you sponsor myself and Dom in doing the London Landmarks Half Marathon for a worthwhile cause.

Due to the ongoing Covid pandemic the run may be cancelled or moved to a later date. In the event of cancellation, Dom and I will be still running it in London on a date of our choosing when we are allowed to.

For more information about how my life has changed:  https://differentstrokes.co.uk/stroke-survivors-in-lockdown-sheelagh-meets-karl/ 

Many Thanks

Karl and Dom

Message from Different Strokes: London Landmarks is an event organised by a non profit organisation. Whilst they are confident the run will go ahead this can’t be guaranteed in the current climate and in the event it is cancelled there may be no refunds available for the charity bought places by Different Strokes. We therefore request that you take this into consideration when donating. Regardless of whether the race goes ahead, all donations would still be gratefully received and used to support younger stroke survivors. Thank you for your understanding and for supporting Karl & Dom with this fundraiser

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