Chris

“On 27th July 2020, while lockdown was in full force, I suffered a stroke. It soon became apparent that minor hindrances I had lived with since birth had now become major difficulties. Mobility had never been easy but now I was truly handicapped, both in leg movement and in balance. A number of walking aids were provided by the stroke team - sticks, zimmer frames, 3 and 4 wheelers - and I tried to keep mobile following programmes they had also given me. They were beneficial but only to a limited degree. Even while you are doing something which you know is for your own good, you still find yourself taking shortcuts and then there is the terrible monotony and tedium of it all.

Thankfully at a time when we at least began to venture out into the post-pandemic world I heard about the West Berkshire Therapy Centre through a friend who was a practice nurse. Here was a place filled with machines which would both help me and stop me from taking shortcuts. Here was a place where there was socialising and laughter and where monotony and tedium were banished.

To begin with I was pointed towards a limited number of machines but these have grown with time. My leg strength, although it will never be what it was, has certainly improved, particularly thanks to the rowing simulator and the mountain climber. My stamina has returned, my heart approves of its regular exertions and my blood pressure has dropped significantly. Use of the balance machine has led me to being able to stand under the shower and wash my hair, and to have enough control to climb into the bath; minor steps in the general scheme of things but major leaps forward for me. Another machine forces me to stride, something which I had not done for years. A while back we were rushing to get to a film and I found I was now faster than my wife!

Stroke recovery happens at various paces and too often the brain has to be shaken out of complacency. Progress will always be made if the brain is bullied into neuroplasticity. The WBTC is central to my campaign of bullying and quite simply is a life-changer.”