‘After the initial burst, help for stroke victims is watered down’

The first indication that Jillian O’Boyle was suffering a stroke came when her knee suddenly gave way at work.

It was a busy Friday in November 2010 and Ms O'Boyle, who lived in Athboy, Co Meath, and was 32 at the time, thought little of it.

Within days, however, she had lost the feeling in her lower legs and found herself in intensive care in hospital.

Due to an autoimmune disorder that caused the stroke, she was unable to speak, suffered from facial paralysis and had difficulty moving her right side.

She was transferred from her local hospital to Beaumont, where she spent two months. This was followed by three months in the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire in Co Dublin.

Recovery

Stroke happens in an instant but recovery, where possible, is a lifelong process. Ms O’Boyle says the first year was “brilliant” in terms of the rehabilitation services she got.

Months of intensive physiotherapy, speech and language therapy and occupational therapy helped her relearn how to speak and move.

The first words took weeks to come out. Then she learned to walk again, at least as far as the distance between the wheelchair and the car.

Within two years, with the help and support of her husband Fergus, she had realised her goal of completing the mini-marathon.

“But after that initial burst, the help you get is watered down. They want to discharge you as soon as possible. The minute you go out of the system, you’re down at the back of the queue.”

Progress

Although she has suffered further strokes since, which undid much of the progress made, Ms O’Boyle started from scratch again and has continued her recovery.

“They wanted me to go to rehab but I said no. I’m very headstrong. I knew what I wanted to do for myself.”

Today, her speech is clear and she can walk slowly, though her movement on the right side remains problematic.

“I’m a fighter, so I am. You have to be,” she says.

She says a major problem is the lack of support services for stroke survivors in the community.

She hasn’t seen an occupational therapist in several years, largely because cover is not being provided when staff go on maternity leave.

She says her biggest wish is for more stroke beds to be provided across the regions, and for more rehabilitation services, delivered to patients in their homes.