QSM for stroke support
Shortly after Eileen Holt’s husband suffered a massive stroke, she helped set up a stroke support trust – and 34 years later, she’s still involved.
Holt, of New Plymouth, has been awarded the Queen’s Service Medal for services to stroke victims and the community in the 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours.
‘‘It’s the hardest thing in the world to keep secret,’’ she said.
And ultimately she could not keep it till today, when all honours are made public.
She held an afternoon tea yesterday with her family to celebrate.
There had already been speculation within her family that she was in line for something. Holt, who doesn’t have an email account, had recently asked to use her daughter’s to invite everyone to the afternoon tea.
Holt has been involved in supporting stroke victims for 34 years. Her husband John had a massive stroke in 1986 at the age of 52 and, shortly after, she saw a notice in the newspaper about forming a stroke club.
So she went along.
Holt helped establish the New Plymouth Stroke Support Trust in 1986 and has held a number of roles, including president, and remains a patron.
She has organised monthly meetings, outings, activities and fundraising for hundreds of stroke victims, and until recently produced a monthly newsletter for the Trust’s members.
Holt remembers what it was like caring for John, who could not speak for 17 years until his death in 2003, and being terrified when he got out of the hospital.
‘‘Your whole life has just turned upside down.’’
While John couldn’t talk and his right arm was weakened, he could walk, and they did a number of trips together, she said.
Holt has also been recognised by the Stroke Foundation and the
New Plymouth Stroke Support Trust for her long service.
She is the secretary of the Norfolk Women’s Institute and an active member of the Waitara Savage Club and her local marching team, as well as regularly travelling with friends.
She is also involved in the lives of her four children, three of whom live in Taranaki and the fourth in Sydney. She also has eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
‘‘I’ve had 82 good years.’’