A West Lothian dad has spoken of the life-changing impact of a stroke that left him unable to speak for three years.
James Rosie from West Calder had no warning before the devastating incident in 2019.
The 51 year old had been due to go on a family holiday to Spain when he switched his car engine on he suddenly realised he couldn't move.
He survived the stroke but was left with aphasia - a condition that can affect the ability to speak and understand and to read and write and at the time neither he nor his wife Joanne had heard of the condition.
Aphasia garnered media attention in March when the family of legendary Hollywood star Bruce Willis announced he is now living with the condition.
Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland (CHSS) estimates around 2,400 stroke survivors are diagnosed with aphasia following their stroke each year in Scotland. However, many people in Scotland still don’t know what aphasia is.
During Aphasia Awareness Month (June), CHSS, who have been a great support to James and Joanne, want to raise awareness of the condition and make people in Scotland more knowledgeable about aphasia.
James and Joanne are sharing their experiences to help others affected by aphasia and raise awareness of the condition, which can have such a devastating impact on people’s lives.
Joanne said there was no hint of what lay ahead for James when, excited about the family’s upcoming trip to Spain, he headed off to the shops for some last-minute purchases.
When he got back into his car, James turned on the engine but found himself unable to move. He had suffered a stroke.
Hours later, Joanne opened the door to two police officers holding James’s car keys, wallet and phone. They took her to St John’s Hospital in Livingston where doctors were concerned that they might have to operate on James because of swelling on his brain.
Three years on, James is living with the consequences of the stroke. He has severe aphasia, a condition that makes verbal communication almost impossible for him, and he is on medication for seizures that began a year after the initial stroke.
Joanne, who works full-time for RBS, and son Matthew (16) are now helping James adjust to a new reality. He had to give up his job as a training officer to apprentices, a role he’d taken on after leaving a long career as a mechanical engineer with the NHS.
Joanne said: "The stroke happened on March 30, 2019. We were going to Spain the next day. James got up as usual and went to the shops. Some hours later I had the police at the door, holding his wallet, car keys and phone.
“They told me he’d been in an accident, and they thought he’d had a stroke. The doctors at St John’s said it was a severe stroke, and he was in ICU for 24 hours because of swelling on the brain.
“James had no warning of what was going to happen. He only has a vague memory of turning on the engine, then not being able to do anything.”
James spent three months in hospital. When he was discharged, it was to a home that had to be specially adapted for an active man who now struggled to use the stairs and general day-to-day activities in his home such as showering.
The consultant told Joanne that James was unlikely to speak again. This was the first time either of them had heard of aphasia. Around a third of all stroke survivors have aphasia, which doesn’t affect their intelligence but their ability to communicate.
Being discharged from hospital to the reality of life at home, with limited support, was a frustrating and lonely experience for each of them.
What changed was joining the weekly online aphasia support group run by CHSS Lothian Community Support Coordinator Lucy Bowman. Meeting other stroke survivors who all suffer from aphasia has been a boon for James, while joining in with partners and carers has given Joanne the support and confidence she was missing.
Joanne continued: “The group is so good. James gets confidence from being able to take part in the quizzes and being part of a peer group.
He’s seeing others who are all in the same situation as he is but at different levels and stages.
“They all now know each other and have an intuition about what each of them is thinking. It’s been such a positive experience for both of us.
“Life has changed so much, and it’s difficult. I have to explain all the time to people that James can’t speak, but he can understand you, so talk to him, not me.
" I feel there is little awareness of aphasia and stroke. Helping people to understand more about it would be so helpful.”
CHSS estimates around 2,400 stroke survivors are diagnosed with aphasia each year in Scotland but many are unaware of it.
James chose to share his story as part of Aphasia Awareness Month in the hope of helping others with the condition so they don't need to deal with it alone.
Jackie Slater, Aphasia Development Manager at CHSS, said: “Aphasia can be very frightening and isolating. In an instant people’s lives are completely turned upside down by the condition, but many people have never even heard of aphasia until it affects them or a loved one. They’re forced to become experts overnight.
“With the help of people like James, who are bravely sharing their stories, we want to make sure that more people in Scotland are aphasia aware."
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