A FATHER and daughter have thanked University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust (UHCW) staff after they were brought in with strokes within months of each other.
Graham Worrall was brought in following an ischaemic stroke in June and, only two weeks after he was discharged, his daughter Mandy O’Keefe was rushed in with an intracerebral haemorrhage.
Graham, 79, from Coundon said: “I was having a shave and found myself on the floor, but I had not felt ill, I had felt fine before it.”
His wife Ann found him slumped in the bathroom and immediately called an ambulance, which took him to University Hospital where he was given a clot-busting drug.
He then received acute stroke care on Ward 41, where he improved.
His rehabilitation was continued at home by the Stroke Early Supported Discharge team.
Graham said: “The staff were absolutely brilliant, I have nothing but praise, they were absolutely fantastic.
“The physios were wonderful, I was determined to move so they helped me a lot.
“I now feel fine other than I have a bit of trouble with my left side. It’s an absolute miracle that I am still around.”
Following a five week stay in hospital, Graham was discharged, only for another devastating blow to strike the family as Mandy suffered a bleed on the brain after a Sunday lunch meal out with her husband and son.
Upon discovering Mandy, her husband called an ambulance and rushed her to the hospital. After a five-hour craniotomy operation, Mandy recovered with her family by her side.
Mandy, 57, said: “The doctors weren’t sure whether I would be able to speak so they were overjoyed when I woke up and I said hello.
“I was on Ward 41 and I couldn’t have asked for anything more from the staff.
“Like my dad did, I found the physios were very good as well as the rehab and speech and language therapists.”
Sarah Mountford, Stroke Services Co-ordinator, added: “It was lovely to hear that Graham and Mandy have done so well, having had two very different types of strokes and having received treatment on two different branches of the stroke pathway.”
Mandy is now ready to go back to work at her local school, while Graham and Ann were able to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary with their family.
Mandy said: “We were so lucky to be in this city when it happened, with the specialists that are here.”
