A HEALTHCARE assistant has told how her world was turned upside down when she had a severe stroke.

Maria Knight, 52, from Mile Oak, Portslade, is determined to rebuild her life after a haemorrhagic stroke – a bleed on the brain – left her paralysed on her left side.

Maria’s stroke struck while she was out driving with husband Dean, 57, in November last year.

She said: “I was driving into work and my right arm just fell off the steering wheel.

“Dean was with me. He got me out of the car and I was leaning to the right. He couldn’t hold me up. A guy in the car behind got out to help and somebody brought a chair out for me to sit on."

Maria was taken to Royal Sussex County Hospital, doctors wanted to operate but found the bleed to be too deep. Two days later it started to bleed again.

“The consultant thought my lights were going out, that I was going to die. Dean was holding my hand and I wasn’t responsive," she said.

“My family thought that was it. Miraculously, it wasn’t. I feel like my family in heaven sent me back.”

After three months in hospital, including a spell at the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath, and a mild case of Covid, Maria was sent home to be cared for by the community neuro rehab team at Brighton General Hospital.

The Argus: Maria KnightMaria Knight

The stroke has left Maria unable to walk properly, with weakness in her left leg, arm and hand.

“I was very depressed and felt suicidal at one point,” she said. “I was in a hospital bed at home and I thought ‘Is this it for the rest of my life?’ I contacted my GP and he was brilliant and the support from Dean and my daughters Hayley and Heidi has been tremendous. They have really given me hope.”

At first Maria relied on a zimmer frame but is slowly building up her strength and now uses a quad stick, a walking cane with four small feet for stability.

She said: “I decided that my stroke is not going to define me. I’m going to battle it. It’s a new chapter in my life and with determination and exercise I can get through this.

“I can walk to the car and where it’s flat but when I go to the supermarket I have to use a wheelchair or it would take us too long to get round.

“I’m trying to get back to normality. Hopefully next year I will be able to go for a driving assessment and I’m looking forward to being able to go on holiday to Turkey again because we love it there.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to work again. Who knows? I miss feeling needed and making a difference and the camaraderie with the people I work with."

The Stroke Association charity have helped Maria in her recovery and her support coordinator Marie checks in on her every week.

Maria says she has found mass support within a WhatsApp group with other Brighton stroke survivors.

She also has a weekly phone call from a volunteer at the charity through its Here for You scheme and chats online with other stroke survivors.

The impact of having a stroke has been highlighted by a new survey of over 3,500 stroke survivors across the UK.

One in five of stroke survivors in the South East say having a stroke cost them their job, almost three per cent say it caused their relationship to end and three per cent even lost their home.

The research, conducted by the Stroke Association ahead of World Stroke Day on October 29, is part of a renewed call for funds to give more survivors hope after their stroke.

The Stroke Association calls for those who can to donate to help them to rebuild their lives.

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