Docs said I’d never walk again.. I had to prove them wrong
When I asked my doctors what caused my stroke they said it was a life of “excess, excess, excess”. I’d had too many late nights, too many early mornings, too much whisky and too much misbehaving.
My stroke happened on a 12-hour flight home to London from Bangkok where I’d been filming. You really don’t want to have a stroke at 39,000 feet – it was pretty scary. About an hour in I suddenly realised I couldn’t lift my arm and my leg felt funny. Then my side went numb and I realised I was having a stroke, I didn’t tell the stewardesses and collapsed just after I got off the plane.
I remember feeling frightened and exhausted as I was rushed to hospital. I kept thinking, ‘I do not want to fall asleep’ – in my confused mind, I thought I just might not wake up. In the end I was awake for 36 hours straight.
Doctors operated to remove the blood clot in my brain but didn’t give me much hope at first. They said I would never walk again – but I proved them wrong. I can be very determined when I want to be. I was always so sporty but suddenly I couldn’t catch a ball, kick a football or stand on one leg. I couldn’t even lift my arms or legs at one point – but that all came back with a really tough six months of physio. My physiotherapist used to arrive with a bag which said on it ”Pleasure equals pain”. She would then kick the s*** out of me for an hour. Then I would thank her and pay her! I also needed a lot of speech therapy as my talking was a bit slurred. I had to cut down on my workload and now I don’t work nearly as hard as I used to – just enough to keep my brain ticking over. Back in the day, I would go out and party and go straight into my job at Capital Radio without having slept. But Chris Evans, Wogan and Kenny Everett did it too. Now I have my Channel 5 show Extreme Railways.
I have got a big old country estate and I walk for absolutely miles around it.
I play more cricket since I have recovered from my stroke and most recently I went on a salmon fishing trip to Russia. I must have walked about six miles a day in big waders and I felt really fit after that…
I have cut down on my drinking. I don’t drink whisky, just wine and beer, and my girlfriend Jane Bird watches what I eat. I don’t eat bread or take sugar and I don’t smoke.
But equally, I don’t want to be some nerd living at home eating a lettuce leaf. I travel all the time and it’s very difficult to say no to really nice food – so if I want steak and chips then I will have it.
My doctors are still amazed at how well I’ve recovered and I go for a check-up once every six months. To prevent unwanted blood clots I now have to take new oral anticoagulants (NOACS) for the rest of my life. But it doesn’t bother me. I get up every day and take my pills and really I just get on with my life. I’m now also an ambassador for the Stroke Association and this week host its Life After Stroke awards, which honour the courage of survivors.
Last year I took my kids to the awards and they were in bits listening to the incredible stories. I was like ‘What is the matter with you lot?’ They said, ‘Dad, it could have been you!’ And I went, ‘Yeah, but it’s not, guys, so get over it. Daddy is fine. Daddy is one of the lucky ones.’
One thing I still really hate is my big baggy eyes – but I think it’s years of not having enough sleep. I wouldn’t wish my face on anyone else but I think I have earned it! A stroke is a brain attack. It happens when the blood supply to part of your brain is cut off.
Blood carries essential nutrients and oxygen to your brain.
Without that blood your brain cells can be damaged or die.
As we get older, arteries become harder and narrower and more likely to become blocked – certain medical conditions and lifestyle factors can speed this up.
When a blockage cuts off the blood supply to the brain.
Caused by a bleeding in or around the brain. A transient ischaemic attack or TIA: www.stroke.org.uk
I don’t want to be some nerd eating a lettuce leaf