Father-of-one, Scott Ferguson, aged 53, was struck down by a stroke while on holiday with his family. The shock incident occurred on Boxing Day 2022 while Scott was brushing his teeth and suddenly felt unwell.
He recounts the harrowing moment: “Standing beside Sam, I told her I wasn’t feeling right. I remember holding my hand to my head, and just feeling so disoriented.I managed to sit down and Sam tells me now that she watched me rest my head on my right arm and then the left side of my body slumped and my face started to droop, it was as if losing all power, she knew instantly I was having a stroke.”
Sam’s immediate response was to seek help frantically from nearby lodgings. “Sam rushed next door and banged on the door calling for help. She managed to speak to a Spanish couple and ask that they rang an ambulance.”
Following the stroke, Scott required critical care and an air ambulance ferried him from Fuerteventura to Gran Canaria for urgent attention. As Scott struggled with the situation, he admits, “I remember thinking I was going to die. I was feeling really frightened and I just thought this must be it.”
Disoriented by the foreign surroundings, Scott was in a state of confusion: “I had no real idea what was going on – everyone around me was speaking in Spanish, and I know Sam was trying her hardest to work out what was happening.” After a six-week ordeal in the Canary Islands, Scott was eventually escorted back home to continue his recovery at Watford General Hospital.
His ordeal did not end there; he later stirred to consciousness in the ICU with his partner Sam beside him, underscoring, “The next thing I remember is waking up in the Intensive Care Unit, and Sam being by my side.” Sam had swiftly arranged for their son Josh to be cared for by family, as she rushed to join Scott in Gran Canaria. Against all odds, Scott evaded the need for brain surgery, undergoing thrombolysis treatment instead.
His recovery was hampered by left-sided paralysis and impaired vision, the once-active man admitting, “I felt so lost and … couldn’t communicate with the people trying to help me. It was really hard.”
After enduring weeks of hospitalisation abroad, often feeling isolated due to the language barrier, the couple celebrated their small victories, with Scott revealing, “Over time and at the point when I was able to stand Sam would help me to wash each morning, it wasn’t an easy task, I am tall and I was still very weak.”
In an emotional homecoming at the end of January 2024, following six long weeks post-stroke, Scott triumphantly returned to British soil, divulging, “The moment I breathed in fresh air was so emotional, I remember almost gasping for air and deeply sniffing – I hadn’t had fresh air for 6 weeks.”
Yet, even as he yearned for domestic comfort, apprehension loomed about his future independence, confessing, “I was desperate to be home, near my son, back in my home comforts – but equally terrified of how I could live in my home.”
Scott, a father who suffered a stroke due to an undiagnosed ‘hole in the heart’, has opened up about his challenging journey to recovery. He revealed: “Not only was everything physically challenging, but mentally I really struggled too. I felt really anxious, paranoid and down – I felt like a different person to who I was before my stroke.”
Doctors discovered that the stroke was triggered by a patent foramen ovale (PFO), which allowed a clot to travel to his brain. In September 2023, he underwent surgery to close the hole. Post-stroke, Scott took up swimming at South Oxhey on The Stroke Association’s advice, which he credits with significantly improving his mobility and strength.
He advocates for the program, saying, “Attending these classes has been like a lifeline to me. I really do believe that if I’d not had these swimming classes, I’d still be sat in my bed with limited movement.”
Additionally, Scott has found solace in trauma therapy, including yoga and meditation, to combat anxiety. Despite suffering a second stroke in June while on a bus and being put on epilepsy medication, Scott is now on the mend and gradually returning to work.
“At the time of the seizure I was feeling really good – like I had a good grip on life – this threw me. I found it really hard to leave the house again, and it’s like I went back down to rock bottom again. I did pluck up the courage to keep going, but it was so hard.
“I’m back in the kitchen again after 19 months off work. Now I have to take things slowly, those things I could do blindfolded, like dicing an onion, are no longer tasks I can do so easily. But just like having to relearn how to get dressed, tie my laces, climb stairs, I know I’ll have to slowly get retrain my brain how to be back in the kitchen.
“I never thought I would have a stroke. I was a healthy and fit 51-year-old. Life was good. A stroke can come at any time, to anyone – I hope by sharing my story more people can be aware of the condition and understand just how difficult recovery can be.”