Stroke dad lay for 3 days until mum saved him
‘Intuition’ told her to check on son Ian
A DAD lay on the floor in agony for three days after suffering a stroke – until his mum popped in to check on him and saved his life.
Father-of-one Ian Cowie, 38, col lapsed at his Aberdeen flat and was too weak to summon help. He was extremely cold, dehydrated and in severe pain, but still alive.
His mum, Julie, said she acted on intuition when she went to check on him on Saturday. She raised the alarm and he was rushed to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI), where he remains in intensive care after a three-hour hour emergency operation.
She was told if she had arrived even an hour later, he wouldn’t have survived Ian’s sister, Rhian Kemp, said: “We have no idea how he managed to stay strong enough to hold on but we are beyond grateful he did.
“Doctors told us if our mum didn’t find him when she did, he would’ve died.
“She knew something was wrong as Ian wasn’t responding to text messages or phone calls. Her motherly instinct drove her to check on him.
“Ian was covered in bruises from falling after many attempts to try to pull himself up. He also had hypothermia and bruising from his body shutting down to protect his vital organs. Luckily, he was conscious.”
Painter and decorator Ian – also a DJ, known as Coozer – suf fered a subarachnoid haemorrhage between January 6 and the next day. The bleed on the space between his brain and skull meant his brain lining was irritated. The pressure was so great it caused significant damage, starving his brain of oxygen.
Rhian said: “The stroke he suffered has left him paralysed on his left side.
“Al though we are extremely lucky Ian is even alive, we are devastated the life he knew will be forever changed.”