A BRAIN WORKOUT FOR STROKE PATIENTS

ANDREW MARSHALL, 60, is a company director from norwich. he developed a device to help stroke patients after his father suffered a stroke 13 years ago. from £150, learnmovement.com

WHEN my 82-year-old dad Clifford had a stroke, it left him partially paralysed on his left side. Once he was discharged from hospital, it was heartbreaking to see what a struggle life became — he couldn’t walk, feed, or dress himself.

I looked for devices that could help, but physiotherapists offer only toys such as building blocks. Dad needed something stimulating to encourage new connections to develop in his brain. I started messing with bits of wood and eventually I came up with the rydaMablet.

this is designed to promote movement and stimulate brain activity by pushing a stick — the ryda — around a maze-like groove on a wooden board — the mablet. this develops muscle strength and hand-to-eye coordination. Dad used it every day for five to ten minutes and within weeks it encouraged him to move his hands and do things like fasten buttons.

It was marvellous to see him progress to using both hands.

he passed away in March 2014 and I didn’t think about the device again until september 2015, when I saw a documentary about brain injury. then I realised my creation could help others.

I made better prototypes and the rydaMablet finally became available last June. It is my tribute to Dad.

EXPERT VERDICT: ‘One of the most demoralising things for stroke patients is when they come to the end of their therapy and are discharged from hospital,’ says Pippa tyrrell, a professor of stroke medicine at the University of Manchester. ‘It’s demeaning to use “toys” if you are an adult. A device like this allows for repetitive, but intriguing, training and sets a challenge — it can only help.’