Ann Crabb

Ann, from Bray, Co Wicklow was 59 when she had her stroke. She worked in the local cinema for 22 years.

I didn’t expect to get a stroke. I was a very fit person – I used to play a lot of badminton and I was a black belt in karate. I was also very careful about what I ate.

I had my stroke three years ago. I was on my break from working in the local cinema and walked up town to go to the sports shop. As I was walking in the door of the shop I collapsed and completely blacked out. I don’t remember anything but an ambulance was passing through the town at the time and someone flagged it down and it brought me to hospital. The ambulance driver knew me personally so he has able to contact my family to let them know what had happened.

I was so frightened when I woke up in Loughlinstown Hospital, as I said I don’t remember anything, and when I woke up I couldn’t see or speak properly. At least my family were there thanks to the ambulance driver. It was so frightening, something you’d never want to go through again. The doctors were very worried about my blood pressure, it was sky high and they told me that the first eight hours were crucial.

Over the next couple of days my eyesight and my speech improved but my left arm was still bad and I couldn’t move it. I spent five months in Loughlinstown hospital recovering from my stroke then I was transferred to the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire because I still couldn’t move my hand. I was determined to use my hand again; you have to work hard to make progress. It improved a lot after the physiotherapy but my left side still isn’t 100%.

I was a keen sportsperson before the stroke but I can’t play badminton any more, my balance is off because my left side is not 100%. You have to do new things. Now, I love to travel and I visit my friends in Spain by myself.

About three months after returning home from the rehabilitation hospital I became depressed. It was getting worse and worse and I honestly believe that I was suicidal. I just couldn’t cope. I didn’t want my family to know because I just didn’t want to worry them. My doctor in the National Rehabilitation Hospital had told me, if I ever needed her she would be there for me. I knew I had to do something about how I was feeling, so I called her and she referred me to a psychologist. I got 6 weeks counselling which helped me a lot. I talked and the psychologist listened. I never looked back after that.

I found the Bray Stroke Club in the local paper recently. I suffer from panic attacks but I haven’t gotten one since I joined the stroke club. The club really helps me, I get great support there. I find the yoga and the relaxation we do there brilliant – it really helps me to relax.

You can pull yourself up if you want to. But you do need help. You can’t do it on your own.