Dad shares wake-up call after stroke
WHEN Mount Marshall dad Steve Henley went to grab a cup and his hand fell off the chair instead, he had no idea it was a sign he was about to face a serious health battle.
In February, aged 38, Mr Henley had just had a stroke, with his only symptom being tiredness and a numb arm.
“It felt as it it was asleep, and I sat there thinking ‘what’s going on’,” he said.
Still, Mr Henley didn’t think much of it, not even heading to the hospital until the next day.
It was then that Mr Henley discovered he had a 7mm blood clot on the left side of his brain.
In Australia, stroke is the third most common cause of death, striking about 55,000 people annually.
Many believe stroke sufferers have to be elderly or excessive smokers and drinkers, but as Mr Henley was a non-smoker and moderate drinker, there was nothing doctors could poke their fingers at.
While Mr Henley was lucky enough to soon recover with little brain damage, his health battles weren’t over yet.
Upon further examination, it turned out Mr Henley’s aortic valve was so damaged it better resembled coral and that he needed a new one immediately.
Attributing warning signs such as tiredness to being overworked, Mr Henley said his experience demonstrated men couldn’t let work overtake health.
“You want to work hard when you’re young to set yourself up for later in life but you have to re-evaluate,” he said. “In a way, we’re lucky I had a stroke because it’s shown us family is more important than anything.”