A young dad has told how his life “changed forever” after suffering three strokes in three days.
Tim Clark wasn’t expected to survive the triple nightmare but found strength to fight when he felt his toddler daughter’s hand in his.
Now the 43-year-old from Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, wants to warn others that a stroke can happen at any age. Tim was just 36 when the illness nearly claimed his life in 2017.
He said: “The first stroke happened when I was playing football but it just felt like I had a headache. The following day I had picked my toddler son up from nursery and carried him home on my shoulders.
“It was such a nice day I lit the barbecue so we could enjoy a family dinner outside that evening. Then everything changed. My wife and children watched me have a stroke right in front of them.”
Wife Jen and children Rebecca, now nine, and Joshua, now seven, could only watch in horror at what was unfolding. Tim added: “The third stroke was in hospital and it nearly took my life. I was rushed into emergency surgery to have an operation on my brain to release pressure on my skull. They had to take part of my skull away.”
The stroke left him with left-sided paralysis and he was unable to do anything for himself.
He said: ”Rebecca was three at the time. When Jen brought her in, Rebecca was scared of me because of how I looked.
“Eventually she reached for my hand. I can’t tell you how much it meant to have her hold my hand. In a single moment, I found the drive to get better.”
He had to learn how to swallow, sit, stand and walk again. But Tim’s recovery was only just beginning. He said: “Jen became pretty much a single parent as well as my carer but she has been amazing.
“The time when you leave hospital can be the most lonely, isolating and difficult. That is when Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland come in. Because of generous donors, they can be there to provide such special support and help when it is needed most.”
Tim, who is now a peer support coordinator for CHSS, is urging people across the country to donate to its Summer Fundraising Appeal.
He said: “If there is one thing I have learned it is that it doesn’t matter how healthy, fit or young you are: when stroke strikes, it can devastate lives in an instant.”
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