Road to recovery
IN the early days after his stroke Margaret O’Hara feared her husband had lost his love of life forever. He spent a great deal of time in his beloved garden ‘ tending to his birds in the shed.’
This served as a kind of therapy on the road to recovery. But it was only when he met with like minded stroke victims and their families that John discovered a new lease of life.
A man of action and a great networker, he was one of the founding members of a dedicated stroke survivors support group in Sligo.
“John did not have a job but he made this his job,” says Margaret with pride, “Meeting others in the same situation as ourselves was a Godsend.
“You realised you are not the only one carrying this burden and the bond between carers helps to lighten the load.”
The North West Stroke Group was the brainchild of John O’Hara (pictured below) who worked tirelessly along with Ed Blake to promote awareness about stroke.
“John could no longer drive. But he was a great talker. Ed did the driving and together they travelled to meet with individuals, groups and agencies, putting stroke on the agenda and keeping it there,” Margaret explains.
The local group met regularly to socialise and take part in a range of activites from flower arranging to yoga to making Christmas cards.
On the fundraising front, members of the O’Hara family and many others took part in the mini-marathon every year. Monthly Sunday lunches for the group were always popular. John loved social occassions and welcomed new members with open arms. His good humour and enthusiasm was infectious, says Margaret. In 2009 the North West Stroke Group even produced a booklet ‘Life after Stroke.’
Behind the scenes too, John put in the hours particualrly when it came to fundraising for the organisation.
“Working for the group gave him a purpose, an interest and he thoroughly enjoyed it,” says Margaret, “It broke his heart the day he had to give it up because of his cancer.”
John died at the age of 59 from cancer 8 months after being diagnosed. His funeral was the biggest Ballisodare has ever seen.
The O’Hara family are delighted with the annoucement from the Irish Heart Foundation that an annual award will be named after John.
Initially Margaret says she wept: “His memory will go on because he was a big hearted man who loved people and I know how hard he worked at home organising fundraisers and reaching out to people.
“He was so young and so active before his stroke, he lived for his family, he loved life, it was a huge blow to him, learning to do everything all over again for the first time.”
Against the odds, John not only achieved great strides in his own recovery. He went on to help countless others in the same predicament.
“We are all very proud,” says Margaret, “He deserves this honour. It’s a lovely legacy.
“He always said he didn’t want a plaque on the wall or a tree planted in his memory but I think that he should be honoured for all the work he put in to this stroke group in Sligo.”