Darwin survivor lends voice to educate blokes about strokes

Sports stars, politicians and entertainers are this week supporting Stroke Foundation in a public health education campaign which hopes to drastically lift the level of Australian men’s awareness of stroke.  

Called Bloke Beside You, the grassroots social media video campaign sees well-known faces from every state encouraging Australians to share the F.A.S.T. message and to educate others – particularly blokes.   

Darwin survivor of stroke and Stroke Foundation advocate Richard Crookes has thrown his support behind the cause. In his video message for the campaign, Richard urges Aussie blokes to educate themselves about stroke.   

Other generous participants who have donated their time in recording a Bloke Beside You message to alert men to the F.A.S.T message include AFL star Jack Lever, World Cup goal-scoring Socceroo Craig Goodwin, legendary horse trainer Gai Waterhouse, former international cricketer Lee Carseldine, and Supercars driver Jack Perkins. 

They are joined by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne Sally Capp, and Perth’s Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas, and stars of the stage, screen and radio including Dolly Diamond, Karl Stefanovic, Sarah Abo, Michael Rowland and Strictly Ballroom’s Paul Mercurio. 

F.A.S.T. highlights three common stroke indicators: Facial droop, Arms not working, and Slurred speech. The T is a reminder that there is no time to waste in calling an ambulance. Successful treatment for stroke is time critical as without it, people can be left with permanent disabilities or may even die.  

Disturbingly, men’s recognition levels of these stroke signs lag 15 per cent behind women – with almost half Australia’s male population unable to name any of the three signs. 

Every year more than 170 Northern Territorians experience a stroke. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are 1.5 times more likely to die from stroke as non-Indigenous Australians. 

Stroke Foundation Chief Executive Officer Dr Lisa Murphy hopes the message will resonate with all Australians and encourage them to share the video widely with blokes they know.  

“Whatever we can do to get more blokes to recognise stroke, the better. It’s confronting to realise that almost half of the population is unaware of what a stroke looks like, and therefore may not know how critical it is to call an ambulance.”  

‘We want to get their attention and increase their understanding and I am very grateful to Richard for sharing his personal story and getting behind our campaign to help us do just that.”  

“Anyone of any age, at any time can be impacted by stroke. It’s not an elderly person’s disease.”  

The Bloke Beside You campaign has been launched in International Men’s Health Week, which has the theme Healthy Habits.  

Videos of all participants will be posted on Stroke Foundation social media channels this week.