Debbie Pritchard, 39, was a team leader at the multinational company Fujitsu when everything changed.
She told the Echo: "When I was in the hospital I was just trying to get my voice back, I didn't realise how sick I was.
"I just wanted to go home and then when I did, that is when it sunk in everything was flipped on its head, everything was just completely different."
The stroke left Debbie with reduced vision in both eyes and also a loss of sensation of heat and pain in both sides of her body.
Describing the effects, she said: "I used to manage a team of 70 people and now I could barely look after myself, I thought I'd never regain my confidence."
However, the stroke caused more than just physical side effects as it also badly effected her mental health.
Debbie, from Norris Green, said: “I used to cry a lot, constantly. I mean for days, months at a time. I think I cried for about four years.
"It was so hard to control my emotions. The biggest thing was working out why it had happened to me. I felt like I had no purpose at all. One day I’m living for my career, the next I’m not even wanting to go out my front door. I was always living in fear of it happening again.
"I wanted to not be around - I couldn't see a light at the end of the tunnel."
The strain of this eventually led to Debbie becoming suicidal.
Describing this period, she said: "My emotions were through the roof, I was angry and frustrated, not at anyone else but with myself, at some points I was suicidal."
"I never thought I'd be that person, I was the sort that person that other people lent on for support.
"I couldn't do stuff that I used to do before and I just honestly thought I'd like to not be here."
These feelings did eventually lead to Debbie planning her own death. She said that only a fear of surviving stopped her going through with it.
She said: "I planned three attempts to kill myself, but I was scared I’d survive it. I was never like that before my stroke."
When Debbie was at her lowest ebb, help came from an unlikely source when her brother asked her to look after his dog.
She said: "It started by looking after my brothers pug for a couple of weeks, I just knew I wanted one of my own."
Debbie decided to get her own dog, adding: "I thought If I can't look after a dog, I can't look after myself."
The dog named Duchess immediately began to have a positive effect.
She said: "Duchess really is my heartbeat, she is the reason I got up off the couch.
"When she needed food or water, it made me get up and get water and it made me start to do things."
She credits Duchess with aiding her mental health, adding: "She is everything to me, She's the reason I am still here."
The charity The Stroke Association also played a crucial role in Debbie's recovery after she started to attend support group meetings and then volunteer herself.
She said: “I didn’t want to go but I’d tried everything and knew I was going down a deeper spiral. Once I walked into that group I never looked back. I was able to talk about my stroke. We were like a big family.
"First I just did things like the register at support meetings and then I ended up volunteering at the Stroke Association in the office and they helped me transition from volunteer to a paid job."
Returning to work was highly significant for Debbie, who now works as a clerical assistant for the Stroke Association.
She said: "I cried when I found out that I'd got the job, I didn't when I walked again or talked again or started to be more independent, but I just never thought I would work again, I cried lots of tears but they were happy tears."
Debbie's story is unfortunately not a unique one.
While the physical effects of strokes are well known the many hidden mental effects are often less publicised.
A report by the Stroke Association called 'The Lived Experience of Stroke' suggests that up to a million people who have survived a stroke have developed a mental health problem.
The report reveals the impact that stroke has on survivors’ mental health, with many people having to adapt to a ‘new normal’ while still living with the fear of having another stroke.
More worrying still is that one in six stroke survivors reported having suicidal thoughts.
Despite efforts from charities such as the Stroke Association, the survey shows that a quarter of stroke survivors say they have not received enough emotional support to help rebuild their lives.
Juliet Bouverie, Chief Executive of the Stroke Association, said: “This report exposes the true devastation stroke can bring. These figures are extremely concerning, and show a desperate need for support to cope with the hidden, and often overlooked, effects of stroke."
The charity wants everyone affected by stroke to have access to the support that they need, when they need it.
Juliet continues: “There is hope. We know from these findings that things can, and do, improve over time for many stroke survivors. Evidence shows that many are still recovering years after their stroke. That’s why we’re now working across the UK to support and drive changes which will improve the lives of people affected by stroke.
For more details of support available in your area, please contact the Stroke Association helpline on 0303 303 3100. If you’re struggling to cope, you can contact the Samaritans free any time from any phone on 116 123, even a mobile without credit.
