When Summer Clarke woke up from a coma after suffering a stroke, she didn’t speak—she sang. That’s how her recovery journey began, and it’s nothing short of extraordinary.
Summer, from Denton, was just 24 when her life changed in May 2023. A flight attendant for British Airways, she was enjoying a barbecue with friends when things started to feel… off. She remembers feeling “dopey” and unsure of how to cook—odd, considering she knew her way around a grill. Later that day, while out at a pub in Droylsden, she was violently sick and started showing signs of a seizure, reported the Manchester Evening News.
She was rushed to Tameside Hospital, where scans revealed a spontaneous brain haemorrhage. Her condition was critical—she couldn’t breathe on her own and was transferred to Salford Royal, a specialist neurosurgery unit. Doctors gave her just a ten percent chance of survival. Her mum, Linda, said they were told they might have just 48 hours with her.
Two weeks into an induced coma, a tiny movement—her little finger twitching—was the first sign Summer wasn’t giving up. Linda recalls being told Summer may never walk or talk again. But slowly, things began to shift. Summer opened her eyes, began following movement, and then something astonishing happened: she started singing.
Even before she could speak or recognise her own mum, Summer was singing lyrics from Oasis, The Stone Roses, and Taylor Swift. She mimed at first, then sang clearly—sometimes even with a tracheotomy in place. Linda says: “She had aphasia, she couldn’t get her words out to talk, but she could sing… it was very emotional.”
Summer was in hospital for months—first in Salford, then a rehab unit in Rochdale. But music stayed with her. Her playlist, played nonstop during her coma, became her therapy. She said, “Before I could even speak to anyone, I started to sing. I don’t know how. It was like being a baby again.”
Today, at 26, she’s walking, biking, and doing gym sessions twice a week. Reading’s still a challenge, but she’s proud of how far she’s come. Her motto? “If I can’t do it today, I’ll do it tomorrow.”
Her story is part of a bigger picture. The Stroke Association found that more than a third of survivors in the North West could sing better than speak post-stroke. And now, through their Sing4Stroke campaign, they’re encouraging others to raise their voices and support recovery through music, just like Summer did.
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