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“There's an incredible loneliness and isolation if you can't communicate.”

Clemency Burton-Hill tells us why she made the BBC Arts documentary My Brain: After the Rupture, which follows her incredible recovery journey from a catastrophic brain haemorrhage. Against the odds, she emerged from a 17-day coma but, unable to speak or walk, or to play her beloved music, she was faced with having to rebuild her life.

📺 My Brain: After the Rupture is available now on #iplayer.

As I was composing this caption, I went to write ‘World Stroke Cup’. 🤦‍♀️

This instantly made me chuckle, roll my eyes, feel mighty embarrassed, distraught, disbelieving, thankful, and newly motivated, all at once.

There was the obvious mistake, caused by post-stroke aphasia and apraxia, of my brain (figuratively, but desperately) searching for the ‘right’ word, which in this case would have been ‘day’. Not ‘cup’.

There was the chuckle/roll-of-my-eyes for what I wrote, also a facet of my brain immediately latching on to something of which it has been very long-attached, namely football and lifelong obsession with #Arsenal. World Stroke Day happens to coincide with us playing at home in the #carabaocup; also I had been reapplying for the #WorldCup ticket draw. Go figure.

Then there was the flood of thankfulness, as - as unlikely it was - my lethal #AVM was caught mid-gush; my brain and therefore my life were saved, thanks to @ChrisKellnerMD. This means I get to navigate a post-stroke existence, which throws new challenges every single day. Challenges are the greatest gifts, if you think about it. Only the living get to be challenged.

And I was also newly motivated as stroke, per the @who, is the second-highest killer of humankind, globally. (The first is cardiovascular disease, which is sometimes caused by… you guessed it: stroke.)

Each year, over 12 million people experience a new stroke, and about 6.5 million die from it.

And, yes the risk of stroke increases with age. But more than 60% of strokes occur in people under the age of 70, which is not so old anyway.

I was 38. My children were 1 and 5.

Please consider supporting Stroke research & rehab, as you are able.

Thank you. 🙏🧠♥️⚽️

PS these photos are a totally random selection post-Stroke life. How fortunate I am to be alive.

#worldstrokeday #IChooseLife

As I was composing this caption, I went to write ‘World Stroke Cup’. 🤦‍♀️

This instantly made me chuckle, roll my eyes, feel mighty embarrassed, distraught, disbelieving, thankful, and newly motivated, all at once.

There was the obvious mistake, caused by post-stroke aphasia and apraxia, of my brain (figuratively, but desperately) searching for the ‘right’ word, which in this case would have been ‘day’. Not ‘cup’.

There was the chuckle/roll-of-my-eyes for what I wrote, also a facet of my brain immediately latching on to something of which it has been very long-attached, namely football and lifelong obsession with #Arsenal. World Stroke Day happens to coincide with us playing at home in the #carabaocup; also I had been reapplying for the #WorldCup ticket draw. Go figure.

Then there was the flood of thankfulness, as - as unlikely it was - my lethal #AVM was caught mid-gush; my brain and therefore my life were saved, thanks to @ChrisKellnerMD. This means I get to navigate a post-stroke existence, which throws new challenges every single day. Challenges are the greatest gifts, if you think about it. Only the living get to be challenged.

And I was also newly motivated as stroke, per the @who, is the second-highest killer of humankind, globally. (The first is cardiovascular disease, which is sometimes caused by… you guessed it: stroke.)

Each year, over 12 million people experience a new stroke, and about 6.5 million die from it.

And, yes the risk of stroke increases with age. But more than 60% of strokes occur in people under the age of 70, which is not so old anyway.

I was 38. My children were 1 and 5.

Please consider supporting Stroke research & rehab, as you are able.

Thank you. 🙏🧠♥️⚽️

PS these photos are a totally random selection post-Stroke life. How fortunate I am to be alive.

#worldstrokeday #IChooseLife

As I was composing this caption, I went to write ‘World Stroke Cup’. 🤦‍♀️

This instantly made me chuckle, roll my eyes, feel mighty embarrassed, distraught, disbelieving, thankful, and newly motivated, all at once.

There was the obvious mistake, caused by post-stroke aphasia and apraxia, of my brain (figuratively, but desperately) searching for the ‘right’ word, which in this case would have been ‘day’. Not ‘cup’.

There was the chuckle/roll-of-my-eyes for what I wrote, also a facet of my brain immediately latching on to something of which it has been very long-attached, namely football and lifelong obsession with #Arsenal. World Stroke Day happens to coincide with us playing at home in the #carabaocup; also I had been reapplying for the #WorldCup ticket draw. Go figure.

Then there was the flood of thankfulness, as - as unlikely it was - my lethal #AVM was caught mid-gush; my brain and therefore my life were saved, thanks to @ChrisKellnerMD. This means I get to navigate a post-stroke existence, which throws new challenges every single day. Challenges are the greatest gifts, if you think about it. Only the living get to be challenged.

And I was also newly motivated as stroke, per the @who, is the second-highest killer of humankind, globally. (The first is cardiovascular disease, which is sometimes caused by… you guessed it: stroke.)

Each year, over 12 million people experience a new stroke, and about 6.5 million die from it.

And, yes the risk of stroke increases with age. But more than 60% of strokes occur in people under the age of 70, which is not so old anyway.

I was 38. My children were 1 and 5.

Please consider supporting Stroke research & rehab, as you are able.

Thank you. 🙏🧠♥️⚽️

PS these photos are a totally random selection post-Stroke life. How fortunate I am to be alive.

#worldstrokeday #IChooseLife

As I was composing this caption, I went to write ‘World Stroke Cup’. 🤦‍♀️

This instantly made me chuckle, roll my eyes, feel mighty embarrassed, distraught, disbelieving, thankful, and newly motivated, all at once.

There was the obvious mistake, caused by post-stroke aphasia and apraxia, of my brain (figuratively, but desperately) searching for the ‘right’ word, which in this case would have been ‘day’. Not ‘cup’.

There was the chuckle/roll-of-my-eyes for what I wrote, also a facet of my brain immediately latching on to something of which it has been very long-attached, namely football and lifelong obsession with #Arsenal. World Stroke Day happens to coincide with us playing at home in the #carabaocup; also I had been reapplying for the #WorldCup ticket draw. Go figure.

Then there was the flood of thankfulness, as - as unlikely it was - my lethal #AVM was caught mid-gush; my brain and therefore my life were saved, thanks to @ChrisKellnerMD. This means I get to navigate a post-stroke existence, which throws new challenges every single day. Challenges are the greatest gifts, if you think about it. Only the living get to be challenged.

And I was also newly motivated as stroke, per the @who, is the second-highest killer of humankind, globally. (The first is cardiovascular disease, which is sometimes caused by… you guessed it: stroke.)

Each year, over 12 million people experience a new stroke, and about 6.5 million die from it.

And, yes the risk of stroke increases with age. But more than 60% of strokes occur in people under the age of 70, which is not so old anyway.

I was 38. My children were 1 and 5.

Please consider supporting Stroke research & rehab, as you are able.

Thank you. 🙏🧠♥️⚽️

PS these photos are a totally random selection post-Stroke life. How fortunate I am to be alive.

#worldstrokeday #IChooseLife

As I was composing this caption, I went to write ‘World Stroke Cup’. 🤦‍♀️

This instantly made me chuckle, roll my eyes, feel mighty embarrassed, distraught, disbelieving, thankful, and newly motivated, all at once.

There was the obvious mistake, caused by post-stroke aphasia and apraxia, of my brain (figuratively, but desperately) searching for the ‘right’ word, which in this case would have been ‘day’. Not ‘cup’.

There was the chuckle/roll-of-my-eyes for what I wrote, also a facet of my brain immediately latching on to something of which it has been very long-attached, namely football and lifelong obsession with #Arsenal. World Stroke Day happens to coincide with us playing at home in the #carabaocup; also I had been reapplying for the #WorldCup ticket draw. Go figure.

Then there was the flood of thankfulness, as - as unlikely it was - my lethal #AVM was caught mid-gush; my brain and therefore my life were saved, thanks to @ChrisKellnerMD. This means I get to navigate a post-stroke existence, which throws new challenges every single day. Challenges are the greatest gifts, if you think about it. Only the living get to be challenged.

And I was also newly motivated as stroke, per the @who, is the second-highest killer of humankind, globally. (The first is cardiovascular disease, which is sometimes caused by… you guessed it: stroke.)

Each year, over 12 million people experience a new stroke, and about 6.5 million die from it.

And, yes the risk of stroke increases with age. But more than 60% of strokes occur in people under the age of 70, which is not so old anyway.

I was 38. My children were 1 and 5.

Please consider supporting Stroke research & rehab, as you are able.

Thank you. 🙏🧠♥️⚽️

PS these photos are a totally random selection post-Stroke life. How fortunate I am to be alive.

#worldstrokeday #IChooseLife

As I was composing this caption, I went to write ‘World Stroke Cup’. 🤦‍♀️

This instantly made me chuckle, roll my eyes, feel mighty embarrassed, distraught, disbelieving, thankful, and newly motivated, all at once.

There was the obvious mistake, caused by post-stroke aphasia and apraxia, of my brain (figuratively, but desperately) searching for the ‘right’ word, which in this case would have been ‘day’. Not ‘cup’.

There was the chuckle/roll-of-my-eyes for what I wrote, also a facet of my brain immediately latching on to something of which it has been very long-attached, namely football and lifelong obsession with #Arsenal. World Stroke Day happens to coincide with us playing at home in the #carabaocup; also I had been reapplying for the #WorldCup ticket draw. Go figure.

Then there was the flood of thankfulness, as - as unlikely it was - my lethal #AVM was caught mid-gush; my brain and therefore my life were saved, thanks to @ChrisKellnerMD. This means I get to navigate a post-stroke existence, which throws new challenges every single day. Challenges are the greatest gifts, if you think about it. Only the living get to be challenged.

And I was also newly motivated as stroke, per the @who, is the second-highest killer of humankind, globally. (The first is cardiovascular disease, which is sometimes caused by… you guessed it: stroke.)

Each year, over 12 million people experience a new stroke, and about 6.5 million die from it.

And, yes the risk of stroke increases with age. But more than 60% of strokes occur in people under the age of 70, which is not so old anyway.

I was 38. My children were 1 and 5.

Please consider supporting Stroke research & rehab, as you are able.

Thank you. 🙏🧠♥️⚽️

PS these photos are a totally random selection post-Stroke life. How fortunate I am to be alive.

#worldstrokeday #IChooseLife

As I was composing this caption, I went to write ‘World Stroke Cup’. 🤦‍♀️

This instantly made me chuckle, roll my eyes, feel mighty embarrassed, distraught, disbelieving, thankful, and newly motivated, all at once.

There was the obvious mistake, caused by post-stroke aphasia and apraxia, of my brain (figuratively, but desperately) searching for the ‘right’ word, which in this case would have been ‘day’. Not ‘cup’.

There was the chuckle/roll-of-my-eyes for what I wrote, also a facet of my brain immediately latching on to something of which it has been very long-attached, namely football and lifelong obsession with #Arsenal. World Stroke Day happens to coincide with us playing at home in the #carabaocup; also I had been reapplying for the #WorldCup ticket draw. Go figure.

Then there was the flood of thankfulness, as - as unlikely it was - my lethal #AVM was caught mid-gush; my brain and therefore my life were saved, thanks to @ChrisKellnerMD. This means I get to navigate a post-stroke existence, which throws new challenges every single day. Challenges are the greatest gifts, if you think about it. Only the living get to be challenged.

And I was also newly motivated as stroke, per the @who, is the second-highest killer of humankind, globally. (The first is cardiovascular disease, which is sometimes caused by… you guessed it: stroke.)

Each year, over 12 million people experience a new stroke, and about 6.5 million die from it.

And, yes the risk of stroke increases with age. But more than 60% of strokes occur in people under the age of 70, which is not so old anyway.

I was 38. My children were 1 and 5.

Please consider supporting Stroke research & rehab, as you are able.

Thank you. 🙏🧠♥️⚽️

PS these photos are a totally random selection post-Stroke life. How fortunate I am to be alive.

#worldstrokeday #IChooseLife

As I was composing this caption, I went to write ‘World Stroke Cup’. 🤦‍♀️

This instantly made me chuckle, roll my eyes, feel mighty embarrassed, distraught, disbelieving, thankful, and newly motivated, all at once.

There was the obvious mistake, caused by post-stroke aphasia and apraxia, of my brain (figuratively, but desperately) searching for the ‘right’ word, which in this case would have been ‘day’. Not ‘cup’.

There was the chuckle/roll-of-my-eyes for what I wrote, also a facet of my brain immediately latching on to something of which it has been very long-attached, namely football and lifelong obsession with #Arsenal. World Stroke Day happens to coincide with us playing at home in the #carabaocup; also I had been reapplying for the #WorldCup ticket draw. Go figure.

Then there was the flood of thankfulness, as - as unlikely it was - my lethal #AVM was caught mid-gush; my brain and therefore my life were saved, thanks to @ChrisKellnerMD. This means I get to navigate a post-stroke existence, which throws new challenges every single day. Challenges are the greatest gifts, if you think about it. Only the living get to be challenged.

And I was also newly motivated as stroke, per the @who, is the second-highest killer of humankind, globally. (The first is cardiovascular disease, which is sometimes caused by… you guessed it: stroke.)

Each year, over 12 million people experience a new stroke, and about 6.5 million die from it.

And, yes the risk of stroke increases with age. But more than 60% of strokes occur in people under the age of 70, which is not so old anyway.

I was 38. My children were 1 and 5.

Please consider supporting Stroke research & rehab, as you are able.

Thank you. 🙏🧠♥️⚽️

PS these photos are a totally random selection post-Stroke life. How fortunate I am to be alive.

#worldstrokeday #IChooseLife

As I was composing this caption, I went to write ‘World Stroke Cup’. 🤦‍♀️

This instantly made me chuckle, roll my eyes, feel mighty embarrassed, distraught, disbelieving, thankful, and newly motivated, all at once.

There was the obvious mistake, caused by post-stroke aphasia and apraxia, of my brain (figuratively, but desperately) searching for the ‘right’ word, which in this case would have been ‘day’. Not ‘cup’.

There was the chuckle/roll-of-my-eyes for what I wrote, also a facet of my brain immediately latching on to something of which it has been very long-attached, namely football and lifelong obsession with #Arsenal. World Stroke Day happens to coincide with us playing at home in the #carabaocup; also I had been reapplying for the #WorldCup ticket draw. Go figure.

Then there was the flood of thankfulness, as - as unlikely it was - my lethal #AVM was caught mid-gush; my brain and therefore my life were saved, thanks to @ChrisKellnerMD. This means I get to navigate a post-stroke existence, which throws new challenges every single day. Challenges are the greatest gifts, if you think about it. Only the living get to be challenged.

And I was also newly motivated as stroke, per the @who, is the second-highest killer of humankind, globally. (The first is cardiovascular disease, which is sometimes caused by… you guessed it: stroke.)

Each year, over 12 million people experience a new stroke, and about 6.5 million die from it.

And, yes the risk of stroke increases with age. But more than 60% of strokes occur in people under the age of 70, which is not so old anyway.

I was 38. My children were 1 and 5.

Please consider supporting Stroke research & rehab, as you are able.

Thank you. 🙏🧠♥️⚽️

PS these photos are a totally random selection post-Stroke life. How fortunate I am to be alive.

#worldstrokeday #IChooseLife

As I was composing this caption, I went to write ‘World Stroke Cup’. 🤦‍♀️

This instantly made me chuckle, roll my eyes, feel mighty embarrassed, distraught, disbelieving, thankful, and newly motivated, all at once.

There was the obvious mistake, caused by post-stroke aphasia and apraxia, of my brain (figuratively, but desperately) searching for the ‘right’ word, which in this case would have been ‘day’. Not ‘cup’.

There was the chuckle/roll-of-my-eyes for what I wrote, also a facet of my brain immediately latching on to something of which it has been very long-attached, namely football and lifelong obsession with #Arsenal. World Stroke Day happens to coincide with us playing at home in the #carabaocup; also I had been reapplying for the #WorldCup ticket draw. Go figure.

Then there was the flood of thankfulness, as - as unlikely it was - my lethal #AVM was caught mid-gush; my brain and therefore my life were saved, thanks to @ChrisKellnerMD. This means I get to navigate a post-stroke existence, which throws new challenges every single day. Challenges are the greatest gifts, if you think about it. Only the living get to be challenged.

And I was also newly motivated as stroke, per the @who, is the second-highest killer of humankind, globally. (The first is cardiovascular disease, which is sometimes caused by… you guessed it: stroke.)

Each year, over 12 million people experience a new stroke, and about 6.5 million die from it.

And, yes the risk of stroke increases with age. But more than 60% of strokes occur in people under the age of 70, which is not so old anyway.

I was 38. My children were 1 and 5.

Please consider supporting Stroke research & rehab, as you are able.

Thank you. 🙏🧠♥️⚽️

PS these photos are a totally random selection post-Stroke life. How fortunate I am to be alive.

#worldstrokeday #IChooseLife

As I was composing this caption, I went to write ‘World Stroke Cup’. 🤦‍♀️

This instantly made me chuckle, roll my eyes, feel mighty embarrassed, distraught, disbelieving, thankful, and newly motivated, all at once.

There was the obvious mistake, caused by post-stroke aphasia and apraxia, of my brain (figuratively, but desperately) searching for the ‘right’ word, which in this case would have been ‘day’. Not ‘cup’.

There was the chuckle/roll-of-my-eyes for what I wrote, also a facet of my brain immediately latching on to something of which it has been very long-attached, namely football and lifelong obsession with #Arsenal. World Stroke Day happens to coincide with us playing at home in the #carabaocup; also I had been reapplying for the #WorldCup ticket draw. Go figure.

Then there was the flood of thankfulness, as - as unlikely it was - my lethal #AVM was caught mid-gush; my brain and therefore my life were saved, thanks to @ChrisKellnerMD. This means I get to navigate a post-stroke existence, which throws new challenges every single day. Challenges are the greatest gifts, if you think about it. Only the living get to be challenged.

And I was also newly motivated as stroke, per the @who, is the second-highest killer of humankind, globally. (The first is cardiovascular disease, which is sometimes caused by… you guessed it: stroke.)

Each year, over 12 million people experience a new stroke, and about 6.5 million die from it.

And, yes the risk of stroke increases with age. But more than 60% of strokes occur in people under the age of 70, which is not so old anyway.

I was 38. My children were 1 and 5.

Please consider supporting Stroke research & rehab, as you are able.

Thank you. 🙏🧠♥️⚽️

PS these photos are a totally random selection post-Stroke life. How fortunate I am to be alive.

#worldstrokeday #IChooseLife

As I was composing this caption, I went to write ‘World Stroke Cup’. 🤦‍♀️

This instantly made me chuckle, roll my eyes, feel mighty embarrassed, distraught, disbelieving, thankful, and newly motivated, all at once.

There was the obvious mistake, caused by post-stroke aphasia and apraxia, of my brain (figuratively, but desperately) searching for the ‘right’ word, which in this case would have been ‘day’. Not ‘cup’.

There was the chuckle/roll-of-my-eyes for what I wrote, also a facet of my brain immediately latching on to something of which it has been very long-attached, namely football and lifelong obsession with #Arsenal. World Stroke Day happens to coincide with us playing at home in the #carabaocup; also I had been reapplying for the #WorldCup ticket draw. Go figure.

Then there was the flood of thankfulness, as - as unlikely it was - my lethal #AVM was caught mid-gush; my brain and therefore my life were saved, thanks to @ChrisKellnerMD. This means I get to navigate a post-stroke existence, which throws new challenges every single day. Challenges are the greatest gifts, if you think about it. Only the living get to be challenged.

And I was also newly motivated as stroke, per the @who, is the second-highest killer of humankind, globally. (The first is cardiovascular disease, which is sometimes caused by… you guessed it: stroke.)

Each year, over 12 million people experience a new stroke, and about 6.5 million die from it.

And, yes the risk of stroke increases with age. But more than 60% of strokes occur in people under the age of 70, which is not so old anyway.

I was 38. My children were 1 and 5.

Please consider supporting Stroke research & rehab, as you are able.

Thank you. 🙏🧠♥️⚽️

PS these photos are a totally random selection post-Stroke life. How fortunate I am to be alive.

#worldstrokeday #IChooseLife

As I was composing this caption, I went to write ‘World Stroke Cup’. 🤦‍♀️

This instantly made me chuckle, roll my eyes, feel mighty embarrassed, distraught, disbelieving, thankful, and newly motivated, all at once.

There was the obvious mistake, caused by post-stroke aphasia and apraxia, of my brain (figuratively, but desperately) searching for the ‘right’ word, which in this case would have been ‘day’. Not ‘cup’.

There was the chuckle/roll-of-my-eyes for what I wrote, also a facet of my brain immediately latching on to something of which it has been very long-attached, namely football and lifelong obsession with #Arsenal. World Stroke Day happens to coincide with us playing at home in the #carabaocup; also I had been reapplying for the #WorldCup ticket draw. Go figure.

Then there was the flood of thankfulness, as - as unlikely it was - my lethal #AVM was caught mid-gush; my brain and therefore my life were saved, thanks to @ChrisKellnerMD. This means I get to navigate a post-stroke existence, which throws new challenges every single day. Challenges are the greatest gifts, if you think about it. Only the living get to be challenged.

And I was also newly motivated as stroke, per the @who, is the second-highest killer of humankind, globally. (The first is cardiovascular disease, which is sometimes caused by… you guessed it: stroke.)

Each year, over 12 million people experience a new stroke, and about 6.5 million die from it.

And, yes the risk of stroke increases with age. But more than 60% of strokes occur in people under the age of 70, which is not so old anyway.

I was 38. My children were 1 and 5.

Please consider supporting Stroke research & rehab, as you are able.

Thank you. 🙏🧠♥️⚽️

PS these photos are a totally random selection post-Stroke life. How fortunate I am to be alive.

#worldstrokeday #IChooseLife

As I was composing this caption, I went to write ‘World Stroke Cup’. 🤦‍♀️

This instantly made me chuckle, roll my eyes, feel mighty embarrassed, distraught, disbelieving, thankful, and newly motivated, all at once.

There was the obvious mistake, caused by post-stroke aphasia and apraxia, of my brain (figuratively, but desperately) searching for the ‘right’ word, which in this case would have been ‘day’. Not ‘cup’.

There was the chuckle/roll-of-my-eyes for what I wrote, also a facet of my brain immediately latching on to something of which it has been very long-attached, namely football and lifelong obsession with #Arsenal. World Stroke Day happens to coincide with us playing at home in the #carabaocup; also I had been reapplying for the #WorldCup ticket draw. Go figure.

Then there was the flood of thankfulness, as - as unlikely it was - my lethal #AVM was caught mid-gush; my brain and therefore my life were saved, thanks to @ChrisKellnerMD. This means I get to navigate a post-stroke existence, which throws new challenges every single day. Challenges are the greatest gifts, if you think about it. Only the living get to be challenged.

And I was also newly motivated as stroke, per the @who, is the second-highest killer of humankind, globally. (The first is cardiovascular disease, which is sometimes caused by… you guessed it: stroke.)

Each year, over 12 million people experience a new stroke, and about 6.5 million die from it.

And, yes the risk of stroke increases with age. But more than 60% of strokes occur in people under the age of 70, which is not so old anyway.

I was 38. My children were 1 and 5.

Please consider supporting Stroke research & rehab, as you are able.

Thank you. 🙏🧠♥️⚽️

PS these photos are a totally random selection post-Stroke life. How fortunate I am to be alive.

#worldstrokeday #IChooseLife

As I was composing this caption, I went to write ‘World Stroke Cup’. 🤦‍♀️

This instantly made me chuckle, roll my eyes, feel mighty embarrassed, distraught, disbelieving, thankful, and newly motivated, all at once.

There was the obvious mistake, caused by post-stroke aphasia and apraxia, of my brain (figuratively, but desperately) searching for the ‘right’ word, which in this case would have been ‘day’. Not ‘cup’.

There was the chuckle/roll-of-my-eyes for what I wrote, also a facet of my brain immediately latching on to something of which it has been very long-attached, namely football and lifelong obsession with #Arsenal. World Stroke Day happens to coincide with us playing at home in the #carabaocup; also I had been reapplying for the #WorldCup ticket draw. Go figure.

Then there was the flood of thankfulness, as - as unlikely it was - my lethal #AVM was caught mid-gush; my brain and therefore my life were saved, thanks to @ChrisKellnerMD. This means I get to navigate a post-stroke existence, which throws new challenges every single day. Challenges are the greatest gifts, if you think about it. Only the living get to be challenged.

And I was also newly motivated as stroke, per the @who, is the second-highest killer of humankind, globally. (The first is cardiovascular disease, which is sometimes caused by… you guessed it: stroke.)

Each year, over 12 million people experience a new stroke, and about 6.5 million die from it.

And, yes the risk of stroke increases with age. But more than 60% of strokes occur in people under the age of 70, which is not so old anyway.

I was 38. My children were 1 and 5.

Please consider supporting Stroke research & rehab, as you are able.

Thank you. 🙏🧠♥️⚽️

PS these photos are a totally random selection post-Stroke life. How fortunate I am to be alive.

#worldstrokeday #IChooseLife

As I was composing this caption, I went to write ‘World Stroke Cup’. 🤦‍♀️

This instantly made me chuckle, roll my eyes, feel mighty embarrassed, distraught, disbelieving, thankful, and newly motivated, all at once.

There was the obvious mistake, caused by post-stroke aphasia and apraxia, of my brain (figuratively, but desperately) searching for the ‘right’ word, which in this case would have been ‘day’. Not ‘cup’.

There was the chuckle/roll-of-my-eyes for what I wrote, also a facet of my brain immediately latching on to something of which it has been very long-attached, namely football and lifelong obsession with #Arsenal. World Stroke Day happens to coincide with us playing at home in the #carabaocup; also I had been reapplying for the #WorldCup ticket draw. Go figure.

Then there was the flood of thankfulness, as - as unlikely it was - my lethal #AVM was caught mid-gush; my brain and therefore my life were saved, thanks to @ChrisKellnerMD. This means I get to navigate a post-stroke existence, which throws new challenges every single day. Challenges are the greatest gifts, if you think about it. Only the living get to be challenged.

And I was also newly motivated as stroke, per the @who, is the second-highest killer of humankind, globally. (The first is cardiovascular disease, which is sometimes caused by… you guessed it: stroke.)

Each year, over 12 million people experience a new stroke, and about 6.5 million die from it.

And, yes the risk of stroke increases with age. But more than 60% of strokes occur in people under the age of 70, which is not so old anyway.

I was 38. My children were 1 and 5.

Please consider supporting Stroke research & rehab, as you are able.

Thank you. 🙏🧠♥️⚽️

PS these photos are a totally random selection post-Stroke life. How fortunate I am to be alive.

#worldstrokeday #IChooseLife

As I was composing this caption, I went to write ‘World Stroke Cup’. 🤦‍♀️

This instantly made me chuckle, roll my eyes, feel mighty embarrassed, distraught, disbelieving, thankful, and newly motivated, all at once.

There was the obvious mistake, caused by post-stroke aphasia and apraxia, of my brain (figuratively, but desperately) searching for the ‘right’ word, which in this case would have been ‘day’. Not ‘cup’.

There was the chuckle/roll-of-my-eyes for what I wrote, also a facet of my brain immediately latching on to something of which it has been very long-attached, namely football and lifelong obsession with #Arsenal. World Stroke Day happens to coincide with us playing at home in the #carabaocup; also I had been reapplying for the #WorldCup ticket draw. Go figure.

Then there was the flood of thankfulness, as - as unlikely it was - my lethal #AVM was caught mid-gush; my brain and therefore my life were saved, thanks to @ChrisKellnerMD. This means I get to navigate a post-stroke existence, which throws new challenges every single day. Challenges are the greatest gifts, if you think about it. Only the living get to be challenged.

And I was also newly motivated as stroke, per the @who, is the second-highest killer of humankind, globally. (The first is cardiovascular disease, which is sometimes caused by… you guessed it: stroke.)

Each year, over 12 million people experience a new stroke, and about 6.5 million die from it.

And, yes the risk of stroke increases with age. But more than 60% of strokes occur in people under the age of 70, which is not so old anyway.

I was 38. My children were 1 and 5.

Please consider supporting Stroke research & rehab, as you are able.

Thank you. 🙏🧠♥️⚽️

PS these photos are a totally random selection post-Stroke life. How fortunate I am to be alive.

#worldstrokeday #IChooseLife

As I was composing this caption, I went to write ‘World Stroke Cup’. 🤦‍♀️

This instantly made me chuckle, roll my eyes, feel mighty embarrassed, distraught, disbelieving, thankful, and newly motivated, all at once.

There was the obvious mistake, caused by post-stroke aphasia and apraxia, of my brain (figuratively, but desperately) searching for the ‘right’ word, which in this case would have been ‘day’. Not ‘cup’.

There was the chuckle/roll-of-my-eyes for what I wrote, also a facet of my brain immediately latching on to something of which it has been very long-attached, namely football and lifelong obsession with #Arsenal. World Stroke Day happens to coincide with us playing at home in the #carabaocup; also I had been reapplying for the #WorldCup ticket draw. Go figure.

Then there was the flood of thankfulness, as - as unlikely it was - my lethal #AVM was caught mid-gush; my brain and therefore my life were saved, thanks to @ChrisKellnerMD. This means I get to navigate a post-stroke existence, which throws new challenges every single day. Challenges are the greatest gifts, if you think about it. Only the living get to be challenged.

And I was also newly motivated as stroke, per the @who, is the second-highest killer of humankind, globally. (The first is cardiovascular disease, which is sometimes caused by… you guessed it: stroke.)

Each year, over 12 million people experience a new stroke, and about 6.5 million die from it.

And, yes the risk of stroke increases with age. But more than 60% of strokes occur in people under the age of 70, which is not so old anyway.

I was 38. My children were 1 and 5.

Please consider supporting Stroke research & rehab, as you are able.

Thank you. 🙏🧠♥️⚽️

PS these photos are a totally random selection post-Stroke life. How fortunate I am to be alive.

#worldstrokeday #IChooseLife

As I was composing this caption, I went to write ‘World Stroke Cup’. 🤦‍♀️

This instantly made me chuckle, roll my eyes, feel mighty embarrassed, distraught, disbelieving, thankful, and newly motivated, all at once.

There was the obvious mistake, caused by post-stroke aphasia and apraxia, of my brain (figuratively, but desperately) searching for the ‘right’ word, which in this case would have been ‘day’. Not ‘cup’.

There was the chuckle/roll-of-my-eyes for what I wrote, also a facet of my brain immediately latching on to something of which it has been very long-attached, namely football and lifelong obsession with #Arsenal. World Stroke Day happens to coincide with us playing at home in the #carabaocup; also I had been reapplying for the #WorldCup ticket draw. Go figure.

Then there was the flood of thankfulness, as - as unlikely it was - my lethal #AVM was caught mid-gush; my brain and therefore my life were saved, thanks to @ChrisKellnerMD. This means I get to navigate a post-stroke existence, which throws new challenges every single day. Challenges are the greatest gifts, if you think about it. Only the living get to be challenged.

And I was also newly motivated as stroke, per the @who, is the second-highest killer of humankind, globally. (The first is cardiovascular disease, which is sometimes caused by… you guessed it: stroke.)

Each year, over 12 million people experience a new stroke, and about 6.5 million die from it.

And, yes the risk of stroke increases with age. But more than 60% of strokes occur in people under the age of 70, which is not so old anyway.

I was 38. My children were 1 and 5.

Please consider supporting Stroke research & rehab, as you are able.

Thank you. 🙏🧠♥️⚽️

PS these photos are a totally random selection post-Stroke life. How fortunate I am to be alive.

#worldstrokeday #IChooseLife

As I was composing this caption, I went to write ‘World Stroke Cup’. 🤦‍♀️

This instantly made me chuckle, roll my eyes, feel mighty embarrassed, distraught, disbelieving, thankful, and newly motivated, all at once.

There was the obvious mistake, caused by post-stroke aphasia and apraxia, of my brain (figuratively, but desperately) searching for the ‘right’ word, which in this case would have been ‘day’. Not ‘cup’.

There was the chuckle/roll-of-my-eyes for what I wrote, also a facet of my brain immediately latching on to something of which it has been very long-attached, namely football and lifelong obsession with #Arsenal. World Stroke Day happens to coincide with us playing at home in the #carabaocup; also I had been reapplying for the #WorldCup ticket draw. Go figure.

Then there was the flood of thankfulness, as - as unlikely it was - my lethal #AVM was caught mid-gush; my brain and therefore my life were saved, thanks to @ChrisKellnerMD. This means I get to navigate a post-stroke existence, which throws new challenges every single day. Challenges are the greatest gifts, if you think about it. Only the living get to be challenged.

And I was also newly motivated as stroke, per the @who, is the second-highest killer of humankind, globally. (The first is cardiovascular disease, which is sometimes caused by… you guessed it: stroke.)

Each year, over 12 million people experience a new stroke, and about 6.5 million die from it.

And, yes the risk of stroke increases with age. But more than 60% of strokes occur in people under the age of 70, which is not so old anyway.

I was 38. My children were 1 and 5.

Please consider supporting Stroke research & rehab, as you are able.

Thank you. 🙏🧠♥️⚽️

PS these photos are a totally random selection post-Stroke life. How fortunate I am to be alive.

#worldstrokeday #IChooseLife

“The violin has been like my ally... a friend.”
On a bright January morning in 2020, 38-year-old Clemency Burton-Hill - Clemmie - suffered a catastrophic brain haemorrhage. Against the odds, she emerged from a 17-day coma, but she was unable to speak or walk and was faced with having to rebuild her life.
📺 Watch My Brain: After the Rupture on BBC Two and #iPlayer from 9pm Friday.

Upper Street in the May sunshine, a long, long time ago. Waited for so many agonising seasons - season after season - to feel this feeling again. After my brain exploded in 2020, I couldn’t quite imagine I would, ever, but BELIEVE they said, and BELIEVE I did.

Onward.

Always Forward.

Trust The Process.

Be Together.

North London Forever.

Thank you, boys.

@arsenal

❤️🤍

#champions

#Onwards, @arsenal, #AlwaysForward #leo #leo #leo etc, but please can you make it a *bit* less stressful in our remaining games, yeah? Cheers, boys ❤️

PS: May 10th has been a dread-full date for me since 1995 (Nayim from the half-way line, IYKYK, I cried at school the next day, ALL DAY, and for many days/months/years afterward; I know, I am LAME) so I was a particularly wretched ball of anxiety going into this game because of that vexed date, ON TOP OF THE GENERAL SICKNESS-INDUCING ANXIETY OF THIS RIDIC SEASON. Hopefully the May 10th hex has gone, which is something, at least.. 😪⚽️🥴

BELIEVE ❤️🤍
ONWARDS ❤️🤍
ALWAYS FORWARD ❤️🤍
WHATEVER THE WEATHER ❤️🤍

#ICHOOSELIFE

‘Smile, love. It might never happen!’

What can I say?

What would I give to have my old, pre-Stroke smile back; my old pre-Stroke right hand back; my old pre-Stroke life back; pre-Stroke mind back?

There is nothing that I could give 😔

‘The thing is, it might.’

Could I reply like that?! Imagine the discomfort! The sheer load of always trying to make sure others are not too uncomfortable in my presence!

The thing is, it might.

So please enjoy it, cherish it, love it, worship it. Never, ever take it for granted.

And if you lose it, as I have lost it, at least you know you chose to live it.

Onward. With a very heavy heart, but Onward.

#IChooseLife #AVMSurvivor #StrokeSurvivor #BrainInjurySurvivor #AlwaysForward

Found this taken on my schoolgirl camera, snapped from my old and much-missed seat at Highbury.

Different times; possibly better times; still, always, #Arsenal times.

Finding strength in you, @wrightyofficial @officialgunnersaurus @arsenal.

Victoria Concordia Crescit! ⚽️🦖🎶❤️

#COYG

For anyone who’s also feeling like today’s Strands puzzle: I feel you, I hold you, I am you 💔

@nytimes

#Rupture
#Shatter
#Splinter
#Crack
#Breakdown

Best birthday present ever.

Thanks @arsenal @championsleague @eze #declanrice, my favourite little pundits and trusty old #Gunnersaurus, my ride-or-die since ‘94 ❤️🤍🎉⚽️

Best birthday present ever.

Thanks @arsenal @championsleague @eze #declanrice, my favourite little pundits and trusty old #Gunnersaurus, my ride-or-die since ‘94 ❤️🤍🎉⚽️

45

All. The. Feels.

#birthday
#avmsurvivor
#wasinotsupposedtobehereanymore?
#grateful?
#march17th🍀

I went to open Instagram today (not an everyday occurrence these days) as I have been feeling a bit wobbly (and possibly self-pitying). I just wanted to put something on here, anything, even if it was a bit lame, to simply mark the still-being-here on 20 January when, six years ago, on another freezing but radiant day, unbeknownst to me, it was almost that there were no more 20 Januarys left for me.

What a thing, what a thing, what a thing.

It has only been about 70 hours since I saw my father’s coffin disappear behind a crematorium’s tasteful but extremely impersonal faux-velvet curtain, and I’m bone shattered and sad and confused. On top of all the other things happening in the world, I have feeling like I just can’t handle it anymore. It has been a lot, over these past six years, for everyone, hasn’t it?

But although the world gets increasingly terrifying and perplexing and desperate, year on year, I suddenly remembered: it’s still so beautiful, and the sky has not yet caved in on us, and somehow it’s still here! We are all here. HERE. Think about that! HERE!

And as this - turns out, quite loony - caption unspooled, unbidden, I became… brimful. Not wobbly anymore. BRIMFUL.

And so I fling my eternal gratitude, to that bluest of blue skies, to the people and things whose presence in it saved my life, and keep on saving it. (Many of you know who you are; some don’t; all I am thankful for.)

For example today:

- I chatted to my boys at breakfast, after distributing little tokens that I had brought over from from London last night: Percy Pigs (new flavours and original), Match of the Day mags and trading cards and lots of British chocolate bars; their squeals of delight were music
- I drank a cup of excellent coffee in a shaft of sunlight and although it was -8 degrees outside I basked like a cat
- I managed a short walk outside
- I read Daniel Levitin’s new book ‘Music as Medicine’ during my afternoon rest and was fully astonished
- I watched my Arsenal boys fully smash Inter in the Champions League
- and I had dinner with some dear friends who both acknowledged the date but did not dwell on it

Brimful, I tell you. Brimful.

Onward.

I choose life 💙

I went to open Instagram today (not an everyday occurrence these days) as I have been feeling a bit wobbly (and possibly self-pitying). I just wanted to put something on here, anything, even if it was a bit lame, to simply mark the still-being-here on 20 January when, six years ago, on another freezing but radiant day, unbeknownst to me, it was almost that there were no more 20 Januarys left for me.

What a thing, what a thing, what a thing.

It has only been about 70 hours since I saw my father’s coffin disappear behind a crematorium’s tasteful but extremely impersonal faux-velvet curtain, and I’m bone shattered and sad and confused. On top of all the other things happening in the world, I have feeling like I just can’t handle it anymore. It has been a lot, over these past six years, for everyone, hasn’t it?

But although the world gets increasingly terrifying and perplexing and desperate, year on year, I suddenly remembered: it’s still so beautiful, and the sky has not yet caved in on us, and somehow it’s still here! We are all here. HERE. Think about that! HERE!

And as this - turns out, quite loony - caption unspooled, unbidden, I became… brimful. Not wobbly anymore. BRIMFUL.

And so I fling my eternal gratitude, to that bluest of blue skies, to the people and things whose presence in it saved my life, and keep on saving it. (Many of you know who you are; some don’t; all I am thankful for.)

For example today:

- I chatted to my boys at breakfast, after distributing little tokens that I had brought over from from London last night: Percy Pigs (new flavours and original), Match of the Day mags and trading cards and lots of British chocolate bars; their squeals of delight were music
- I drank a cup of excellent coffee in a shaft of sunlight and although it was -8 degrees outside I basked like a cat
- I managed a short walk outside
- I read Daniel Levitin’s new book ‘Music as Medicine’ during my afternoon rest and was fully astonished
- I watched my Arsenal boys fully smash Inter in the Champions League
- and I had dinner with some dear friends who both acknowledged the date but did not dwell on it

Brimful, I tell you. Brimful.

Onward.

I choose life 💙

I went to open Instagram today (not an everyday occurrence these days) as I have been feeling a bit wobbly (and possibly self-pitying). I just wanted to put something on here, anything, even if it was a bit lame, to simply mark the still-being-here on 20 January when, six years ago, on another freezing but radiant day, unbeknownst to me, it was almost that there were no more 20 Januarys left for me.

What a thing, what a thing, what a thing.

It has only been about 70 hours since I saw my father’s coffin disappear behind a crematorium’s tasteful but extremely impersonal faux-velvet curtain, and I’m bone shattered and sad and confused. On top of all the other things happening in the world, I have feeling like I just can’t handle it anymore. It has been a lot, over these past six years, for everyone, hasn’t it?

But although the world gets increasingly terrifying and perplexing and desperate, year on year, I suddenly remembered: it’s still so beautiful, and the sky has not yet caved in on us, and somehow it’s still here! We are all here. HERE. Think about that! HERE!

And as this - turns out, quite loony - caption unspooled, unbidden, I became… brimful. Not wobbly anymore. BRIMFUL.

And so I fling my eternal gratitude, to that bluest of blue skies, to the people and things whose presence in it saved my life, and keep on saving it. (Many of you know who you are; some don’t; all I am thankful for.)

For example today:

- I chatted to my boys at breakfast, after distributing little tokens that I had brought over from from London last night: Percy Pigs (new flavours and original), Match of the Day mags and trading cards and lots of British chocolate bars; their squeals of delight were music
- I drank a cup of excellent coffee in a shaft of sunlight and although it was -8 degrees outside I basked like a cat
- I managed a short walk outside
- I read Daniel Levitin’s new book ‘Music as Medicine’ during my afternoon rest and was fully astonished
- I watched my Arsenal boys fully smash Inter in the Champions League
- and I had dinner with some dear friends who both acknowledged the date but did not dwell on it

Brimful, I tell you. Brimful.

Onward.

I choose life 💙