Mum’s stroke turned our lives upside down
The Call The Midwife actress tells LUCY BENYON about the impact that this deadly condition has had on her family
MEDICAL emergencies are all in a day’s work for Call The Midwife actress Victoria Yeates, who plays scatty but sweet- natured novice nun Sister Winifred in the hit show set in east London in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
But unbeknown to fans of the popular BBC drama, Victoria, 34, has been facing a real- life health drama of her own.
In September 2015 she was in the middle of filming when she got a call to say her mother Maria, 68, had unexpectedly suffered a massive stroke.
“My mum lives in Bournemouth and I’d been trying to get hold of her for a couple of days but she hadn’t called back, which was strange,” recalls Victoria, who is an only child and has always been very close to Maria. “When I saw a Bournemouth number flash upon my phone I just knew something awful had happened.”
Sadly her instincts were spot- on as the call was from the emergency department at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital where her mum had been admitted.
Maria had collapsed at home two- and- a- half days earlier. She was only discovered when a neighbour broke in, concerned that the television had been on all night.
“The shock was immense,” admits Victoria, who lives in London with her fiancé, composer Paul Housden, 37. “Luckily the production crew on the show are amazing and a driver took me straight to the hospital.
“When I got to the ward mum was barely conscious and she looked so broken and vulnerable,” she says, her voice faltering. “I have never felt such intense love for anyone in my life.”
Maria had suffered a middle cerebral artery stroke, which are often severe. Not only had the stroke left her unable to speak and paralysed down the right side, she had also suffered a heart attack.
And to make matters worse her medical team was concerned that she could suffer a second, possibly fatal, stroke at any time.
“It was terrifying,” says Victoria. “I kept thinking I’d lose her.”
A stroke happens when the blood supply to part of your brain is cut off. It can happen to anyone at any time, although three- quarters of all strokes occur in people over 65.
RISK factors include having high blood pressure, diabetes, an irregular heartbeat called a trial fibrillation ( AF) and high cholesterol.
Although Maria seemed well before the stroke she had been on medication for high blood pressure. And what she hadn’t known was that she was also suffering from Type 2 diabetes. She was also on hormone replacement therapy ( HRT) which has been linked to a slightly elevated risk of stroke.
Nevertheless Victoria believes things would have been very different for Maria if she’d got help sooner. “Mum was very lucky to survive but the stroke left her in a wheelchair and turned her life completely upside down,” she says.
According to the Stroke Association, stroke is the biggest cause of disability in the UK, with two out of three survivors leaving hospital with physical impairment. Getting treatment as quickly as possible after a stroke can have a huge impact on a patient’s outcome, research by the charity reveals, as for every minute left untreated the average patient loses two million nerve cells.
After three months in hospital Victoria was by Maria’s side as she moved into a new flat in a sheltered housing development with wheelchair access. “The stroke changed everything for us, as mum went from being the mother to the child. It was a huge adjustment as I had to organise everything for her, from her care to her finances .”
And like a lot of other stroke survivors Maria became depressed. “She’d always been so bubbly and full of life but at first the illness really robbed her of her personality,” admits Victoria.
“She totally lost her confidence, and became far more emotional. Sometimes it felt like I was grieving for the person she’d been before.”
Outgoing and upbeat herself the Rada- trained actress admits she struggled with her mum’s illness. “I was constantly afraid she would have another stroke and I spent as much time with her as I could.”
For that first year Victoria refused all auditions as Maria battled to regain her speech and then went through emergency heart surgery to have three stents inserted into one of her arteries.
Although her parents are divorced, both her dad and Paul were a massive support during that difficult first year.
AND Victoria has no idea how her mum would have survived without the loving care of her partner Steve, who lives nearby. “It breaks my heart when I think about older stroke victims having to cope alone,” says Victoria. “It must be terrifying for them.”
Despite the anguish she feels incredibly lucky that Maria survived. “Yes, things are different. But little by little I am seeing my old mum again.”
The turning point came a few months ago when she called Maria only to discover she’d taken herself off in her wheelchair to Marks & Spencer. “She told me she fancied a salmon sandwich,” says Victoria. “I almost burst into tears as it meant she was regaining her independence.”
Maria is doing so well that Victoria, who is currently filming the Call The Midwife Christmas Special, can focus on her career again. She has just landed a role in the movie Fantastic Beasts 2, a companion to the Harry Potter series.
And she is also busy organising her wedding in France next summer. “When mum told me she’d already bought her outfit I knew I’d got her back,” laughs Victoria.
Tomorrow night Maria will get the chance to get her glad rags on again as she and Victoria are attending the Life After Stroke Awards at The Dorchester hotel in London. Organised by the Stroke Association the ceremony aims to celebrate the achievements of everyone affected by stroke.
“I know mum is going to look absolutely amazing,” says Victoria proudly. “Life after a stroke can be challenging in so many ways but it can be fun and fulfi lling too. Mum is still here and I can’t wait for her to upstage me.”
The Life After Stroke Awards will be streamed live on Facebook on November 1 from 9pm. Watch at facebook.com/TheStrokeAssociation. Find out more about the Stroke Association and the awards at stroke. org. uk/ lasa