‘After my stroke, I never thought I’d sing again’
AMAN who nearly died when he felt a crack in the back of his head has made an incredible recovery just months after his family were told to prepare for the worst.
Richard Rees, from Neath, was at home last May when he started to have a stroke. He was rushed into hospital but was left unable to walk or talk.
Having lost his previous job as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, Richard, now aged 46, started working in the canteen at Morriston Hospital, where he became a familiar figure to many of the staff. He left to take up another job, but little did he know that he would soon be returning to the same hospital, only this time he would be fighting for his life.
“I was at home and I felt something crack in the back of my head,” said Richard.
“I said to my partner – we have a problem, I’m going to have a stroke. Lo and behold, I was right.
“There was no ambulance available so I had to get driven in by my next door neighbour.
“My niece and my partner put me in the car because my right side had already started to go. I came in to A&E and I was in ‘resus’ (resuscitation) for three-four days.
“It was quite serious. My partner was told on a number of occasions to prepare for the worst.”
Former singer Richard stayed in Morriston Hospital for four weeks, before he was transferred to Neath Port Talbot Hospital to continue his rehabilitation. Here he learned to walk again before being allowed home, where he was supported by a physiotherapist five days a week for six weeks, and by an occupational therapist. He was then introduced to the brain injury service at Morriston Hospital, which runs a 12-week course with Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy, the UK’s largest independent music therapy charity.
Richard, who had resigned himself to never being able to sing again, did indeed start singing to help his recovery, and he took up the drums too.
“We would drum every week just to try to make my hands and my arms work more, to get my brain to tell my arm what it should be doing,” said Richard.
“I used to be in a brass band, but I also used to lead the band on parade, so drumming was second nature.
“Then we tried singing, and that’s what we did – a bit of drumming, a bit of singing. For the last five weeks it was only singing, because I was quite comfortable with the singing, which I never thought I would be able to do again.”
Richard said that when he saw his stroke consultant in December he was told his recovery had been better than expected. Although his music therapy sessions have now finished and Richard knows he has a long way to go in his recovery, he is already returning to another former pastime. The ex-bowls player has been in discussions with the Stroke Association and with Bowls Wales to set up weekly bowls sessions for stroke survivors in either the Neath Port Talbot or Swansea areas.
He also hopes to continue his association with the Morriston service by attending group sessions or events, when the pandemic allows.
“The music therapy gave me something to look forward to every week,” he added. “It was making my brain work, and because I had a brain injury, it was important to get other things going. It has been a constant every Friday, it’s a constant piece of interaction and gets me to do things that I loved in my life.”
Richard has thanked Swansea Bay University Health Board and Nordoff Robbins for all the support he received, including from music therapist Jo Humphreys, who said regaining confidence is a key part of recovering from a stroke, as well as the physical hurdles.
“There is often a loss of purpose, motivation, and identity as well,” she said.
“When we first started, I did see a lot of those things in Richard. We started quite tentatively, with a little bit of drumming. He told me categorically he would not be singing, which I accepted.
“But I had faith that he had this enormous musical and creative potential that it would be useful for him to reconnect with and explore further. So, from those first few tentative beats on the drum to now being up performing whole songs, it’s an enormous privilege to have seen his confidence grow, his self-belief.
“That’s the most significant thing that I have seen over our time together, I would say.
“Seeing now how that confidence can translate into other areas of his life.”