Watch out for signs of stroke

WARWICK Alderton has one simple message for anyone suspecting they may be having a stroke.

Ahead of National Stroke Week this week, it’s a message he believes takes on extra significance for Toowoomba residents.

“Get on to that 000 quickly. It makes such a difference,” he said.

“If you think something is wrong with someone, get help.”

In 2013 Mr Alderton was hit by two serious health scares within the space of a month. On November 11, 2013, Mr Alderton suffered a heart attack and having survived that medical scare, he had no idea that another, a stroke, would be right around the corner on December 4.

“I didn’t know what was going on,” Mr Alderton recalled.

“A friend of mine had realised that something was wrong and got me to the hospital where they diagnosed me.

“I was grazing doorways and brushing the walls as I walked down the hallway but I wasn’t aware.”

Mr Alderton, who has 35 years of experience as a registered nurse, suffers from emotional lability as a result of the stroke, a condition typified by exaggerated changes in mood or effect in quick succession and warned people to be wary of the signs themselves to avoid what could be deadly consequences.

“I was inside the story looking out and not outside the story looking in,” he said.

“They did some investigations into my background and as a registered nurse I knew all the words, all the theory and that sort of thing but it didn’t sink in.”