A Northern Ireland woman has told how her life changed "in a flash" after she suffered a stroke.
When Ruby Sutherland, who is from the Waterside in Derry, began to feel unwell in December 2010 she put symptoms down to stress.
Ruby was grieving after the death of her mum to cancer, and had a headache a couple of days after the funeral, which she associated with the agony of losing her mum.
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Soon after, she was told she had suffered from a TIA - a transient ischaemic attack or 'mini stroke' that causes a temporary disruption to the blood supply in the brain.
Speaking to MyDerry Ruby said: "I had just buried my mother and that was a complete shock. I was taking her for a routine appointment because she was complaining about a chest infection and we were told that she only had six weeks to live. It was completely devastating. I hit the floor when I was told, I couldn't come to terms with it.
"I was suffering from a really bad headache a few days after her funeral and I thought it was just part of the stress of it all. But then one day I was watching the television and it looked as if it was falling off a cliff.
"My vision became blurred and my speech bag to slur. It was a very freighting thing to go through. I wouldn't wish it on anybody.
"That's when I went to the hospital and they told me that I had a slight TIA and I would have to undergo therapy. It completely changed my life forever. It all happened in a flash. I had no warning, it just happened.
"I underwent speech therapy and a few other things like that. And one of the funny sides of this is that I have a couple of languages and the only way I could really relate to what I required was by speaking German and that really freaked them out," Ruby laughed.
"They thought somehow I had taken up a foreign language and I didn't, it was just my way of putting English back into context for myself as part of my recovery."
Ruby, now aged 64, spent months undergoing extensive speech therapy and physiotherapy with the help of her family and local stroke community team.
She has shared her story to raise awareness of the impact having a stroke can have and to mark Stroke Awareness Month throughout May.
"I'm still not back to my same self," Ruby added.
"It's been almost 12 years and I still get weakness on one side of my body. I'm forever breaking cups and plates because I'm always dropping them because I don't have that same grip and feeling that I once had.
"It's a bit like having fine china with a hairline crack that nobody sees and that's the beginning of it all really.
"And before I suffered the mini stroke, my mother's death had put so much stress on my life - more than I can even describe. It was a horrible feeling.
"Life never gets back to normal either. It's the sad reality of it all but that's just the way it is. You won't be doing the same things you once did. The little things that you didn't give any thought to, become big things. I used to love doing gardening but I can no longer do that.
"And sometimes that difficult for people to comprehend because whilst you look OK on the outside, you most definitely are not fine.
"It took me two years to get back on my feet and be able to live some kind of existence. I have to live day to day and sometimes when you begin to feel ill you get scared because you think it could be happening again."
Ruby is a member of the Stroke Association Foyle support group and enjoys writing poetry about living life after a stroke.
"That is something that has always run in the family so to speak," she said.
"My mother was a fantastic writer and poet.
"I do it because I think it's a good way for me to remember certain words and it helps you express how you feel.
"And Michelle and Stephen at our support group have been invaluable to me throughout the pandemic. They helped me a lot and they've kept us all going with lots of activity in order to keep our minds healthy."
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