Stroke survivor gives back
Barrie Hadfield went to a ‘dark place’ after a series of strokes, and doesn’t want others to have the same experience. By
A stroke survivor is tackling the country’s largest fun run to raise money for the Stroke Foundation.
Barrie Hadfield will participate in Auckland’s Round The Bays event less than a year after suffering a heart attack and series of strokes.
With almost $2000 raised, he’s currently the event’s highest individual fundraiser.
On a Sunday in June last year the 48-year-old woke up feeling not quite himself. He heard a ringing, and his vision was distorted. His wife, Alison, pointed out that his face had ‘‘dropped a bit’’.
The British-born Aucklander went to check the football results on his phone, and couldn’t remember his pin.
It turned out he had suffered not just one stroke that morning, but several – and that was only the beginning.
‘‘It was just downhill from there,’’ Hadfield said.
‘‘I was discharged the day after, but had to complete an
MRI scan as an outpatient. When
I was calling to get my results three weeks later . . . I felt a worrying numbness in my left leg.’’
Further tests confirmed that the clots he had been experiencing were due to a hole in the heart.
He had surgery to close the
hole in September, but suffered a heart attack nine days later.
Hadfield said he struggled to recover, and found himself in a ‘‘dark hole’’.
‘‘There is no support when you first come out of the hospital after a stroke. I was left on my own, with no tools or information or anything. I can’t imagine what I must have put the wife through for those three months.’’
He finally found support after calling Anxiety NZ’s helpline, which forwarded him on to the Stroke Foundation.
‘‘They all made me realise it was a process that takes time,’’ he said.
‘‘I had no idea it was going to be such a long journey. Nobody said it was until the Stroke Foundation came in. Finally, my wife could read the books and understand what I was going through.’’
Wife Alison described the prolonged lack of care period as ‘‘awful’’.
‘‘We felt like there was nobody to call,’’ she said.
‘‘It was so hard, we’ve been together for 33 years. With a stroke, one man goes into the hospital and another comes out. I didn’t know how to deal with how different he was.’’
She said information provided by the Stroke Foundation was ‘‘amazing’’.
Barrie said supporting other stroke survivors was the main motivation for his Round The Bays fundraising mission, and he set out to raise ‘‘over $500’’.
It was a mission that resonated. To date he has almost reached $2000.
Barrie hoped the money would make a difference, perhaps to help employ a caregiver for someone coming out of hospital, or for more information booklets.
He will walk the course with his son and granddaughter.
‘‘The Stroke Foundation were there when I needed them, and now I feel like I’m doing myself justice by paying that help forward.’’