Carole Young

Carole Young survived a stroke at 28, here she tells us her Survivor Story.

"I was a 28 year old married private legal secretary. Life seemed great. Perfectly 'normal' to every one else. Or so I thought…..

On my way to a 'Star Trek' convention (don't laugh!), I had the most MASSIVE explosion inside my head. It felt like WW3 going off inside my skull! I ended up in hospital, Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield and was given 2 days to live. I was in a coma for weeks and awoke totally paralysed and unable to talk. It was beyond terrifying.

I ended up in there for a year, enduring months of physio, OT and speech therapy. It was like a school timetable but kept me occupied! My husband of 7 years left me in the middle of that time, just after my massive heart operation. Yes, it was decided after a scan in April of that year (1993), that a previously unknown tumour on my heart was breaking up, a piece had floated to my brain stem and caused the stroke in the first place! Again, I thought I would die. Anyway, I obviously survived that too!

I now live alone in a flat in my native Scotland, where I returned after hospital, as I was so distraught over my divorce, etc. I was shellshocked! My family has been great, as have my many friends in Yorkshire.They are very proud of me, as I spent 14 years in a wheelchair, but now use a walker and am almost totally independent! I just need a bit of help to change my bed or hoover up, as am not strong enough now. Also, get dizzy sometimes and cannot swallow properly, though manage fine. I get get dizzy because I have a benign brain tumour too! It has been controlled for years by drugs, but now doctors are seeing how I cope without them - so far so good as can manage.

My terrific Dad sadly passed in 2011, and my childhood sweetheart, Billy, tragically died in 2013. I can't get over Billy, though am learning to live without him as I have no choice with that. Both were great helps to me and I miss them so much.

I am a lifelong poet and have worked with worldwide musicians, we have made 7 CDs now. I also help my local Housing Association. I do still get down at times, but I want to say NEVER GIVE UP, no matter how bad things are! I am living proof, and cherish those who stick by you. I wish you all well. "