I suffered my stroke in the studios of 1629am Newcastle
June 20, 2018
By Des Simmonds
I suffered my stroke in the studios of 1629am Newcastle, June 1 2016. I am a radio announcer and was just about to go to air.
The first inkling that something was wrong had been prior to me arriving at work. I was at Tuggerah train station waiting to board my train to Newcastle. While chatting with another commuter I noticed that my speech was a bit slurred and I was having trouble finding words.
It hadn’t occurred to me that my slurred speech was a sign of a stroke I boarded the train and slept most of the trip. I was sleep derived as I had been battling a headache for a few days.
At work, I prepared to go on air. In the general hubbub of the studio the breakfast announcer hadn’t noticed that I was slurring my words. When I finally went live I continued to have difficulty speaking and couldn’t get my words out, so I resorted to just playing music.
Later in the morning I received a call from the station manager asking me to go to my doctor straight away. I made my way back home to the Central Coast. Other than slurred speech, I felt fine and my headache had gone away.
Once home I drove myself to my local GP. When I arrived it began to dawn on me that I may be having a stroke - I don’t know why this hadn’t occurred to me sooner as I knew the F.A.S.T. message.
I told the receptionist that I was experiencing the symptoms of a stroke. The doctor saw me straight away and before I knew it I was in an ambulance on the way to Gosford Hospital for treatment.
It turned out that I had a bleed on the brain that had slowly been killing off brain cells as I went about my business.
Unfortunately it was too late for most treatments, and the majority of the damage was in the communication command centre of the brain – not great for a radio presenter.
Since my stroke, my speech and my writing have both been affected. I can get by most days and I am back to work, although it took a bit of time. The big thing is I have lost a lot of confidence in my walking, after I had a few falls I ended up with a walking stick to help on longer walks.
My message is, if you’re experiencing a ‘funny turn’ and things don’t feel right call 000 immediately. Don’t think your way out of it – trust your gut and get treatment quickly.
I didn’t, and I am telling you my tale so you do.
I suffered my stroke in the studios of 1629am Newcastle, June 1 2016. I am a radio announcer and was just about to go to air.
The first inkling that something was wrong had been prior to me arriving at work. I was at Tuggerah train station waiting to board my train to Newcastle. While chatting with another commuter I noticed that my speech was a bit slurred and I was having trouble finding words.
It hadn’t occurred to me that my slurred speech was a sign of a stroke I boarded the train and slept most of the trip. I was sleep derived as I had been battling a headache for a few days.
At work, I prepared to go on air. In the general hubbub of the studio the breakfast announcer hadn’t noticed that I was slurring my words. When I finally went live I continued to have difficulty speaking and couldn’t get my words out, so I resorted to just playing music.
Later in the morning I received a call from the station manager asking me to go to my doctor straight away. I made my way back home to the Central Coast. Other than slurred speech, I felt fine and my headache had gone away.
Once home I drove myself to my local GP. When I arrived it began to dawn on me that I may be having a stroke - I don’t know why this hadn’t occurred to me sooner as I knew the F.A.S.T. message.
I told the receptionist that I was experiencing the symptoms of a stroke. The doctor saw me straight away and before I knew it I was in an ambulance on the way to Gosford Hospital for treatment.
It turned out that I had a bleed on the brain that had slowly been killing off brain cells as I went about my business.
Unfortunately it was too late for most treatments, and the majority of the damage was in the communication command centre of the brain – not great for a radio presenter.
Since my stroke, my speech and my writing have both been affected. I can get by most days and I am back to work, although it took a bit of time. The big thing is I have lost a lot of confidence in my walking, after I had a few falls I ended up with a walking stick to help on longer walks.
My message is, if you’re experiencing a ‘funny turn’ and things don’t feel right call 000 immediately. Don’t think your way out of it – trust your gut and get treatment quickly.
I didn’t, and I am telling you my tale so you do.