The whole of my left side was paralysed. I was terrified

– Stroke patient Louise Copland

Louise Copland had a stroke when she was just 31 – and found the recovery challenging.

Now, six years on, she is backing the Stroke Association’s manifesto in the hope she can help change the experience for others.

Six years ago, Louise’s partner noticed her speech was slurred. She was taken to hospital where doctors revealed she was suffering a mini stroke.

“It was a massive haemorrhagic stroke. The whole of my left side was paralysed. I couldn’t walk or feel my left side. I couldn’t speak properly or swallow easily. I was terrified, I had no idea what was going on.”

Louise’s stroke had been caused by an aneurysm in the brain, which burst. It was found during a routine epilepsy scan, but doctors thought it was outside the brain rather than inside.

After an operation to drain the blood and fit a coil and stent, Louise was discharged from hospital – and it was then she realised the hardest part was yet to come.

Social care, such as help to wash and dress, and even getting a wheelchair, were only available privately.

“I didn’t fit the typical age bracket for a stroke, so I couldn’t tick this box and didn’t fit into that category.

“The first few months were tough. I felt anxious and isolated. There was no one to talk to who would understand what I was going through.”

With intense physio, Louise, from Renfrew, has made good progress but now walks with a stick, has no sensation down her left side and cannot see out of the corner of her left eye.

“More people need to know the devastating impact of stroke – the fact that it can change people’s lives in an instant like it did mine.

“Lives after stroke can be rebuilt again. But it takes specialist help and support and a ton of courage. I was lucky to have my friends and family, the NHS and the support of a charity behind me.

“We must continue to make stroke a priority in Scotland so that more lives can be saved and rebuilt again.”