A stroke of genius for baby Olive
March 18, 2015
Michael Scott will be channelling his tenacious daughter Olive as he challenges mind and body to cycle from Sale to Byron Bay raising much-needed funds for the National Stroke Foundation.
In 2013 Olive suffered a catastrophic stroke at less than an hour old, which left her fighting for her life. Now almost two years-old, Olive has proven to be a fighter and has made significant progress in her recovery thanks to the love and support of her family.
Michael hopes to reflect his daughter’s fighting spirit as he tackles the massive 1,600 kilometre, 11 day Stroke of Genius ride from Sale to Byron Bay, departing on 24 April.
“This ride is a way for me to not only honour my beautiful daughter, but raise awareness about the many challenges she faces as one of Australia’s youngest stroke survivors,’’ Michael said.
“Olive’s stroke turned our world upside down. Those first few hours, as we watched her suffer through seizures and countless resuscitation attempts, were extremely distressing.
“The stroke caused a severe disability on the right side of her body and damaged the part of her brain that controls memory, language and speech.
“Today Olive is doing really well, but her disability means constantly working with her and medical professionals to ensure that she is the best that she can be” he said.
Michael said he hoped to reach his target of raising $25,000 for the National Stroke Foundation to help other families touched by stroke.
“As parents, stroke is the last thing you think you’ll have to cope with in the hours following your child’s birth,” he said.
“But as my wife and I have discovered, strokes do happen to babies and young children and there are families out there right now who are just as confused, frustrated and scared as we were.
“This ride is all about raising much needed funds for the National Stroke Foundation’s work to support young stroke survivors like Olive, so we can hopefully spare other families from going through what we did.”
In 2013 Olive suffered a catastrophic stroke at less than an hour old, which left her fighting for her life. Now almost two years-old, Olive has proven to be a fighter and has made significant progress in her recovery thanks to the love and support of her family.
Michael hopes to reflect his daughter’s fighting spirit as he tackles the massive 1,600 kilometre, 11 day Stroke of Genius ride from Sale to Byron Bay, departing on 24 April.
“This ride is a way for me to not only honour my beautiful daughter, but raise awareness about the many challenges she faces as one of Australia’s youngest stroke survivors,’’ Michael said.
“Olive’s stroke turned our world upside down. Those first few hours, as we watched her suffer through seizures and countless resuscitation attempts, were extremely distressing.
“The stroke caused a severe disability on the right side of her body and damaged the part of her brain that controls memory, language and speech.
“Today Olive is doing really well, but her disability means constantly working with her and medical professionals to ensure that she is the best that she can be” he said.
Michael said he hoped to reach his target of raising $25,000 for the National Stroke Foundation to help other families touched by stroke.
“As parents, stroke is the last thing you think you’ll have to cope with in the hours following your child’s birth,” he said.
“But as my wife and I have discovered, strokes do happen to babies and young children and there are families out there right now who are just as confused, frustrated and scared as we were.
“This ride is all about raising much needed funds for the National Stroke Foundation’s work to support young stroke survivors like Olive, so we can hopefully spare other families from going through what we did.”