A Scots dad who suffered a stroke couldn't remember his six-year-old daughter when he woke up.
Paul Flaherty woke up in hospital in May last year and struggled to remember the past six years of his life, including the fact he had daughter, Eden, now 7.
The 48-year-old suddenly took unwell after he returned from having his haircut and his left arm went numb. Paul immediately recognised it as a sign of a stroke as his father had suffered one just months prior.
In a desperate bid for help, he managed to call his ex-parter and say one word - stroke.
He was rushed by ambulance to Glasgow Royal Infirmary before being transferred to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.
Paul said: “After the first stroke, I didn’t even know I had a daughter. My dad was talking to me about someone called Eden and I had to ask who Eden was. It was strange to find out I had a daughter, and she was six."
He added: “I was very fortunate that I was treated so quickly. I collapsed on a Saturday morning and within two hours, I’d been in two different hospitals, had CT and MRI scans. Speed made such a difference to my recovery.
“When I was first on the ward, I couldn’t really speak, and I couldn’t move. It was very scary. But within three or four days, the feeling started to come back on my right side. I did some really simple exercises with the physios, and I began to feel a bit of hope because I’d been feeling very down and had given up on myself a little bit.
“My dad had had a small stroke a few months before me. He was 79 and he was in quite a bad way and I didn’t think he was going to pull through. I did some research at that time, so when it happened to me, I did know a little bit about stroke, but it’s a different kettle of fish when it’s you in the hospital bed.”
When he suffered the stroke, Paul was recovering from injuries including a broken ankle and broken bones in his right hand after he was knocked down by someone on an e-scooter just weeks prior.
After being transferred to the QEUH, doctors carried out a procedure called thrombolysis to remove a blood clot from his brain.
Paul was beginning to recover well from the first stroke when he suffered a second one, this one affecting his speech rather than his mobility. A scan revealed the second stroke had caused some additional damage to his brain.
He said: “I’ve got a seven-year-old daughter, and we go swimming three times a week and I collect her from school, so I am trying to do the usual things. But there are times when it’s been very frustrating.
“I’m not going to give up. I’m going to keep doing what I can. I know how lonely it can be to be recovering from something like this. I had a lot of support, but I can’t imagine how hard it would be for someone who lives alone or doesn’t have anyone to help them out."
Paul's place of work Curia - a global research business in drug development - have now partnered with Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland as their chosen charity for 2023, with a series of fundraising events planned for the year
Paul said: “I’m so pleased that Curia have chosen Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland because of the work they do for people like me.”
Louise MacLeod, Community, Events and Corporate Fundraiser at Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland added: “We are delighted that Curia has chosen Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland to be its charity partner for 2023. The team has already committed to taking part in some fantastic activities to raise money for CHSS.
“The support from our fundraising partners like Curia allows us to provide much needed services to the one in five people in Scotland living with chest, heart and stroke conditions so that they can live their lives to the full. I am excited to develop our partnership throughout the coming year.”
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