‘I had to learn to read and write again after Covid led to me having a stroke...’
Geoff Bodman, 57, was fit and healthy before he contracted Covid-19 in March 2020 after a trip to the Cheltenham Festival. Mark Smith reports on what happened next...
WHEN Geoff Bodman woke up for work feeling under the weather in March 2020, he initially put it down to overdoing it at the Cheltenham Festival the day before.
But 48 hours later the painter and decorator was so dizzy and sweaty, and had such a high temperature, that his wife Julie decided to call for an ambulance.
It was the start of a long and deeply frightening journey for the 57-yearold which would see him come perilously close to losing his life.
“I know at one point the team looking after me didn’t think I’d make it, and my wife and family were told to prepare for the worst. I’m so glad that the big man upstairs had other ideas,” he said.
Geoff, from Tremorfa, Cardiff, was diagnosed with coronavirus and was admitted to the University Hospital of Wales – but was deemed well enough to return home four days later.
Despite his temperature initially being brought under control, he deteriorated once again and needed a second visit from Welsh Ambulance Service paramedics, who this time showed up in full PPE.
He recalled: “It was like something out of Alien. They were all kitted out in their safety gear, it was quite something. Within two days of getting to the hospital, I was in intensive care.”
Attempts to get more oxygen into Geoff’s body failed, so doctors put him on a ventilator in a bid to stabilise his condition. He was later brought off it but had to be ventilated a second time, this time for longer, as medics fought to save his life.
During the second ventilation he suffered a devastating stroke that affected the movement on his right side.
“When they brought me round, I was over the worst of Covid-19 but it was then they told me that I’d had a stroke whilst under sedation,” added Geoff, who turned 56 while in hospital and previously had no underlying health conditions.
“I remember not being able to move my right arm at all. It was really scary. I then spent another month in hospital not only recovering from coronavirus but also recovering from a stroke.”
As well as losing the movement in his right arm, Geoff discovered he had also lost the ability to read and write.
“It was embarrassing in the beginning, having to read pre-school books, but that’s what I had to do,” he said.
“I wanted so badly to learn to read and write again. The changes that my body and brain had gone through were frightening in the beginning.
Having to go back and learn to read again was upsetting to me.”
After spending 11 weeks in hospital, he was discharged home and was able to see his family for the first time in months – a deeply emotional moment.
A team of physiotherapists, carers and speech and language therapists then went to work in the days and weeks that followed in an attempt to improve Geoff’s mobility, reading and writing.
“I just want to pay a huge tribute to not only the doctors and nurses who saved my life when I was so ill with coronavirus, but all the medical team who have looked after me since,” he said.
“They’re all unsung heroes and deserve praise from all of us. I’m so grateful to the speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and the physiotherapists who worked with me day after day in hospital and at home, to recover some movement in my right arm. At the start I was unable to lift my hand at all and I’m now delighted that I’m now able to move it slowly.”
Dad-of-four Geoff, who lost four stone during his time in hospital, said he hopes to return to his painting and decorating job within the next 12 months.
He added: “Every couple of weeks I feel I’ve made another big step. I’m so fortunate I’ve got an amazing family and friends.”
There are more than 1.2 million stroke survivors living in the UK, including almost 70,000 in Wales. However, it is predicted that the number of stroke survivors aged 45 and over could rise to 1.4 million in 2025 and 2.1 million in 2035.
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic there have been widespread reports of adults with the virus also going on to suffer strokes. It is thought that the virus could be increasing the chance of blood clots forming in the brain and blocking blood flow.
The Stroke Association is now conducting research into the difference coronavirus could make to stroke recoveries, which are already at risk due to disruption to stroke services caused by the pandemic
Researchers at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) will follow up to 4,000 stroke survivors, with and without Covid-19, from across 13 emergency stroke units.
Stroke recovery, rehabilitation and health will be tracked for up to 18 months after their stroke. Researchers will collect and assess medical information from stroke patients, including brain scans, blood samples and measures of disability. It is hoped the findings will help understand how Covid-19 affects stroke recovery and which treatments might best support survivors’ recoveries.
Dr Richard Perry, lead researcher at UCLH, said: “Research that compares stroke in patients with and without Covid-19 is essential to understand if Covid-19 results in more severe strokes, where survivors will need more support to recover from its devastating effects. While redeployed to stroke wards at the start of the pandemic, I would see patients admitted with unusual strokes, who would then go on to have a positive Covid-19 test.
“The findings from this study will inform decisions about the most effective treatment and the rehabilitation needs of this group of patients, including prevention of recurrent stroke.
“We already know that from the moment a person has a stroke or mini-stroke, they are at substantial increased risk of further strokes.
“We’ve come a long way since the start of the pandemic. I’m incredibly proud of stroke doctors and researchers throughout the UK who generously gave their time to contribute to the early stages of our study on the impact of Covid-19 on stroke, when we had no resources and were entirely dependent on their goodwill. This much-needed funding means we can continue the urgent work.”