Now in her late 40s, Wright, who grew up in the Cariboo, suffered a hemorrhagic stroke when she was just 38 years old. “Which basically means my brain exploded,” Wright described the life-changing incident. Unlike ischemic strokes, which result from a blood clot blocking blood flow to the brain, he had the less common hemorrhagic stroke that results from a blood vessel bursting, creating brain bleeding and blood loss. The results are similar as there is a lack of oxygen in the brain, resulting in nerve cell damage. Wright underwent emergency brain surgery in Vancouver after being airlifted from Smithers, where she was on vacation. Unfortunately she contracted meningitis in the hospital and subsequently had a life-threatening allergic reaction to antibiotics. In total it was six weeks in the intensive care unit, two weeks in the neurology ward and almost two months in the rehabilitation hospital. Initially she was completely paralyzed and a doctor had told her parents that it was unlikely she would ever walk or live independently. Fortunately, the function of her right side returned quickly, however her left side has never fully recovered, leaving her weaker on that side. He is left-handed. But Wright was determined and left the wheelchair behind when she was released from hospital, and while her mother came and helped her at first, she had to try to figure out how to cope. However, when Wright looked for services and support, she found that the system had little to offer a survivor like herself, because unlike most stroke victims, she wasn’t an older man, she was a young, well-living woman. on her own. While the Stroke Recovery Association told her they had nothing for her, they recognized there was a gap there and invited her to join the board to address the issue. “That’s where all this stuff started,” Wright explained. Over the next 10 years, she helped develop resources and support for her fellow stroke victims by doing peer mentoring and working with health care providers. “It became very cathartic after a while,” Wright recalls of her peer mentoring and presentations discussing her experience. Since then, she said she feels there has been a real shift in the way health care providers view stroke survivors like herself. “Those behaviors are reflected in the community, and that’s when you’ll see people’s recovery change for the better,” Wright explained. Ten years after her stroke, Wright still has deficits, but compensates for them and has traveled the world, even trekking in Nepal for three months. “After a day of about eight hours of hiking straight up a mountain and my body is completely exhausted, I’m so grateful for the pain I’m feeling right now because I shouldn’t be able to do this.” She has now been recognized for her years of advocacy to help other stroke survivors by Heart & Stroke, the Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recover and the Canadian Stroke Consortium. They have awarded Wright the Frank Nieboer Lecture. Established in 2021, the lecture recognizes people affected by stroke who have used their personal experiences to actively improve travel for others. Wright will be giving a lecture at the Atlantic Canada Stroke Congress in October in Charlottetown, PEI Read more: Survivor of second narrow bridge collapse remembers tragic day [email protected] Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter charityHealthHeart & StrokeWilliams Lake
