“I was devastated and felt that I wasn’t me anymore and frustrated that I couldn’t do the things I used to do'
62-year-old Linda Crooks suffered her stroke nearly three years ago and was rushed to the Royal Victoria Hospital.
"I can’t write Christmas cards anymore either or cook the Christmas dinner. The wee things like that you don’t think of are changed forever," she added. Linda has praised the charity and said: “I feel so blessed that Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke came into my life. I started their PREP programme in May. It lasted for 6 weeks and I enjoyed it so much, I went back for another 6 weeks. Each week we’d do exercises with a physio and each week I was finding I could do the exercises for longer. It really helped with my physical recovery.
Linda said: “At PREP, we learn about different aspects of stroke and how to manage it. When I was finding it hard to control my emotions and taking them out on my family, Allen used to take it personally, but from going to the class, we both learned it’s because of my brain being affected by the stroke.
Ursula Ferguson, Director of Care Services at NICHS, said: “NI Chest Heart & Stroke has been supporting people in Northern Ireland for over 75 years. Last year we supported around 17,000 people through our support and physical rehab programmes for people living with chest, heart and stroke conditions, as well as through our prevention programmes which work with workplaces, schools and community settings.
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