My Mama My Hero

By Brooke Zukanovic

At the end of 2020, my Mama had a major stroke.

She was upstairs and I called her to ask if she would like a cup of tea, she then responded with “You can bring the dogs up on the balcony to wee” at first we thought she was being silly and making a joke of some sort. However, we soon realised there was something very wrong once her speech and cognitive perception got worse very quickly and she couldn’t finish a sentence. We called the ambulance and she was rushed to hospital.

After going in and out of hospital and many tests later, she was diagnosed with multiple heart conditions that had caused a clot to her brain and she now lives with a pacemaker.

When you look at Mum you can’t tell that she has had a stroke but inside, the impact is immense.

She struggles daily with severe headaches which causes vomiting, extreme fatigue and nerve pain which runs throughout her entire body. Her speech and thought processing have been altered, sensory overload and so much more. Alone, each of these changes would be challenging, combined it’s…I have no words. I can’t imagine how hard it is for my beautiful Mama to have to live with all of this every day.

Mama, I am doing Run Melbourne because I love you and want to raise awareness and money to help anyone that struggles with debilitating after stroke symptoms like you do.

I am so proud of you; even with everything you are going through you still shine your beautiful bright light on this world. You will always be my biggest inspiration.

I can’t wait to see your face and give you a big hug when I cross the finish line.