A fit and healthy dad-of-two had his life turned upside down when he experienced a sudden and unexpected stroke. Dave Jones was 36 when he suffered a brain stem bleed which resulted in temporary vision and movement loss.
Due to his age, health and fitness, Dave from Ammanford passed off his vision loss and sudden head aches as a viral infection. However when he finally saw doctors at Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthenshire, he was surprised to hear he had suffered a brain haemorrage, and could go into a coma at any point.
He said: "I remember the stroke like it was yesterday. I was young, fit and healthy. I went to the gym three times a week, I would walk the dog five to six miles a day.
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"I felt like a pop in the back of my neck, like the pop of that bubble packaging, it felt like that, and I felt my colour drain. I had a head ache and I thought I had a migraine coming on, I took two tablets and carried on. I went home from work that day, slept all night, I woke up the next morning still with the head ache, took two more tablets, I put it down to a migraine, carried on as usual that day. The next morning, I woke up blind."
Dave, now 42, explained that he was working away at the time, and his vision came back enough to see his phone and he called his colleague who happened to be a former paramedic to his hotel room. His friend said that Dave was too young to have a stroke but wanted to take him to hospital just in case.
Dave insisted that he was fine and if he was to go to hospital, he wanted to do so at home, so they made the drive back from Birmingham to Carmarthenshire. When he was home, he called his GP who sent him straight to the A&E department at Glangwilli Hospital.
While at the hospital he was taken straight to triage, and at this point Dave still believed that it was something viral and was expecting to be given some tablets to clear things up. Straight away he was given a CT scan and other tests were run. That is when a nurse confirmed with him that they think he had a brain haemorrhage.
"He said I could go into a coma at any minute and they were working to see if I needed an operation, there and then. That is when I realised, this is serious."
Dave had a brain stem bleed, he has since been told that only 40% of people survive that. His symptoms got worse over the next few days. He started to lose movement and strength in his right arm and leg - he lost 85% of movement in that side of his body. He said: "I kept saying to the nurse why is there three clocks in the room but there was only one. I had pressure on my optical nerve which was turning my eye inwards."
He was in hospital for six days, and fortunately did not need an operation. When he was released, his road to recovery begun. "Then 12 months later I suffered a mini stroke."
Dave experienced a TIA (transient ischaemic attack), which he said affects one in five people who have previously had a brain stem bleed in the last five years. It pushed his recovery back by about seven months.
"I had to start all over. I was told I would never work again, and I took that as a challenge" he said.
At the time of his stroke, Dave was a regional sales manager, on the cusp of being reported to a national sales manager, climbing the career ladder. He was devastated to be told he would never work again but he did not want to accept that. He now works as a Stroke Association co-ordinator, using his experience to help others.
Dave is part of a young men’s peer group based in Carmarthen “we help each other through it and meet up and talk about our experience, it is a massive help to me. Without the opportunity and help to set up this group by the Stroke Association who knows where we would all be. It has been a real saviour to many of us.”
Physically, Dave's recovery has been quite successful, but there are other aspects to it that people might not first realise. He described suffering with anxiety and fatique as a side affect from the stroke, which can disrupt his family life.
"Sometimes I can go and work in a cafe for hours and get a lot done, other days I attempt that and have to go home. With my little boy, we can plan stuff but sometimes I just don't feel up to it on the day so they will have to go without me. It has had a massive impact. My boy is great, he was six months old when it happened, he knows that some days are days he needs to look after dad."
Dave received his care and rehab treatment under Hywel Dda Universtiy Health Board, and Stroke Association are concerned that people who have a stroke in that area are at risk of being abandoned due to changes in funding.
Dave said: "The support I have received from the Stroke Association has been invaluable. My co-ordinator has been a huge help to me. She is always there whenever I need her. I would never have got to where I have got without her.”
Stroke Association is concerned about the services at Hywel Dda over the next year. Katie Chappelle, Associate Director Wales, Stroke Association said: “Hywel Dda University Health Board has been de-prioritising stroke services for years. There has been no inflation increase in our funding for over six years, resulting in a real-terms cut for stroke support services. Part of the service has historically been provided by Carmarthenshire Local Authority, but they have now withdrawn this money, due to changes in how they pay for community-based prevention services.
"With this support coming to an end, we want to work closely with Hywel Dda UHB to design an effective and quality service which continues to support stroke survivors and their loved ones to rebuild life after stroke. We urge the Health Board to reconsider their upcoming tender, and include the additional adequate funding needed to deliver an equal stroke recovery service across all three areas for stroke survivors in the years ahead."
Alison Shakeshaft, director of therapies and health science at Hywel Dda said: "Ensuring our patients can access appropriate care is of paramount importance to us, including those needing care or treatment following a stroke. We are aware of a change in Carmarthenshire Council's funding support relating to this service. However, we can confirm that the health board was already in the process of going out to tender for this stroke service. The tender will be for the whole health board area, so that people across Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire receive the same level of support."
Cllr Jane Tremlett, Carmarthenshire Council cabinet member for health and social care. said earlier this month: "We have worked closely with the Stroke Association and Hywel Dda to repurpose this money to focus on prevention, information and advice, while the health board develop and tender for a care provision for patients that are discharged back to the community that is equitable across the three counties they serve."
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