John D'Arcy - My Story

On January 11th 2000 I went into my local hospital (St Cross) to have a routine test. The test was supposed to take about ten hours but after about four hours the doctors stopped the test as I was getting distressed. I was in fact having a stroke.

The part of my brain affected was the left side of the Cerebellum (It was the left vertebral artery that was blocked) The last thing I remember was going to the hospital canteen for a slice of toast!

A week previous to this I woke up one morning and found I could not walk and crawled to the bathroom where I was violently ill. I went to my GP and she put it down to Gastric Flu which I did not question as, at the time people were going down like flies with Flu and viruses. I later realised that it was a Transient Ischaemic attack or TIA which is a type of stroke in which the symptoms generally get better within about 24 hours. If you or anyone you know suddenly lose the power of or understanding of speech, visual disturbances or loss of balance or any other unexpected problem you should consult your doctor without delay. Better to be safe than sorry!

I was an HGV lorry driver for ten years prior to having my stroke and luckily I was not driving at the time it happened. Anyway back to the hospital…After two days I was transferred to the Neurocritical Care Unit at the Queen Elizabeth Medical Centre near Birmingham. I was given a CT scan followed by a MRI scan (which apparently gives better pictures) After this it was apparent that my condition was complicated by Hydrocephalus. The doctors then decided that I was going to need surgery if I was to survive and I had a Shunt fitted during the early hours.

I was then told I had a chest infection and was put on a ventilator as I could not breath for myself. My family were then told that I was going to have an operation called a Tracheotomy.

The next day it was decided that the operation was not necessary as my breathing had improved. By this time I had that many tubes connected to me, I was beginning to resemble a bowl of spaghetti.

I remained in this hospital until 27th January when I was transferred back to a local hospital. I remained there for a further five weeks and was given intensive physiotherapy five days a week. I gradually put back on the weight I had lost (2½ Stones) and started the long road to recovery.

By a cruel twist of fate my stroke happened one month before my 40th birthday (which somewhat changed my celebration plans) and I was released for "just a couple of hours Mr D'Arcy and don't have too much to drink" to allow me to celebrate my birthday. Four days later on the 8th February I was yet again released to celebrate my 14th wedding anniversary (and another four pack of bitter!) On readmission to hospital I was having problems with my left leg, It was swollen and very painful. The next day I had an ultrasound scan on my leg and it was found that I had a blood clot (DVT) in my left thigh, I was immediately given an injection of Heparin (a drug used to thin the blood) and afterwards I was put on a course of Warfarin tablets (Warfarin is another drug that thins the blood) The physiotherapy continued and I was finally discharged on March 2nd.

After discharge from hospital I continued physiotherapy twice a week for six months which consisted of riding an exercise cycle, attempting (pitifully) to juggle, skipping and generally staggering around the gym.

Now, six years after my stroke I look upon life with a different attitude, I sometimes stagger when I walk, I have poor co-ordination and my speech is sometimes slurred especially when I am tired, I will never win any awards for typing but I guess you get out what you put in.

They say that when one door closes another opens and I have for a number of years wanted to work in IT and because of my stroke I lost my HGV licence and my local Jobcentre found me work based training in Web Development. After 9 years recovery and 5 house moves, I now work full time as a Web Developer.

Update - June 2010 - Skydive

I had always fancied having a go at a parachute jump and, back in 1987 I did a 2,000 ft static line jump for, what was then called Mencap. The initial feeling between leaving the plane and the parachute opening was amazing but on that occasion the feeling only lasted for about 2 seconds. Since then I decided that at some point I would have to do a free-fall jump. Before I did this jump I spent an entire weekend training (basically how to land correctly) followed by the jump itself.

I never got the chance to do a free-fall jump as you needed to complete a number of static jumps first (or do a tandem jump which didn't appeal to me) Then, after looking at the Different Strokes website I heard about the Accelerated Free-fall (AFF) scheme where, instead of being strapped to an instructor two jump at the same same and remain with you until you open your 'chute at 6,000 ft.

We climbed aboard the plane and made the slow climb to 12,000 ft. The door was slid back several times as other parachutists made their jumps from lower altitudes. Finally we reached our jump altitude of 12,000 ft and we crouched by the door in our exit positions, the quickly followed the pre-exit drill and before I knew it we were falling through the air. I thought I had an idea of what to expect but nothing prepared me for this, it sounded like I was standing facing into a hurricane as we plummeted downwards at 120 MPH. I ran through my altitude checks as well as the pre-release checks.

It is difficult to put into words what it feels like to free-fall through the air and the only thing I can relate it to is one of those dreams where you seem to be falling forever before waking up (or, in this case your parachute opening). After running through the pre-release checks I continued to monitor the altimeter on my wrist and finally at 6,000 ft it was time to open the 'chute. This is also an weird feeling as you decelerate from 120 MPH to a leisurely drift downwards. I checked the 'chute was opened correctly and ran through a few more checks. After I spotted my landing zone I spent the next 5 minutes making a series of turns to stay in the correct area (taking care to avoid the 2 runways in constant use). As the ground got near I put my legs in the landing position and, just before I thought I was going to make contact with the grass, I pulled down on both steering toggles to slow down the 'chute even further. Then my feet gently landed on the grass and I took a step backwards and collapsed the 'chute and started to gather it up. My system was fired up on adrenaline and my heart was racing. I walked back and checked in with the ground team and brought my equipment to the packing sheds. All in all it was an absolutely amazing experience and if you ever get the chance to have a go the I would recommend that you do. As well as having a great time I raised about £450 for Different Strokes.

Visit John's website Stroke Survivors UK

Thanks to John for sending in his profile. Anyone else who would like to share their story can send it along with a photograph (if you're not shy!)

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