It was a Monday in March when long-term Abu Dhabi resident Carl Davies had a massive stroke – a medical emergency he was lucky to survive.
Eight months later, Davies, who has taught modern languages in the UAE since 2003 but is currently on sabbatical from teaching duties, is sharing his experiences, and providing insight and guidance into what recovery from a stroke really looks like.
To that end, this month he took a step into the world of book publishing with the release of his memoir, Stroke Me – My Road to Recovery, which is a self-published account of being visited by a life-changing medical event and his rehabilitation journey since the spring.
The book is presented as part-journal, part-guide for carers and a patchwork narrative in catharsis. It is also what some might term unflinching, as it is peppered with phrases that are raw and graphic as well as being infused with an indomitable this-is-me spirit. It’s a visceral and real account of a survivor.
“I am just an average middle-aged man who suffered a life-changing bleed that led to a haemorrhagic stroke and who wanted to tell his story,” writes Davies early in his pages. “Statistically speaking I should not be here, but I am.”
His 55th birthday arrived five days after he was taken to Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi in March. A picture in the book’s final pages shows Davies in those first few days in hospital lying still in bed with eyes closed, surrounded by get-well cards and a jumble of wires connecting him to ICU machines and, pertinently, a viable future outside the confines of an emergency ward. He has come a long way since then.
In all, he spent 17 weeks in hospital, both at CCAD and at Reem Rehabilitation Hospital. He returned to his family home last summer, his life punctuated by regular sessions of rehabilitation and therapy.
Incidents of strokes have increased by more than two-thirds around the world since 1990. The World Health Organisation estimates that 15 million people globally have a stroke every year. About one-third of that number die and another 5 million are left with permanent disabilities. The main causes of strokes can be related to a basket of lifestyle issues.
Most patients, traditionally, have been aged 65 and above, but times and case profiles are changing alongside lifestyles. In the UAE, the average age of stroke patients is 55. That same downward trend in age profiles is happening elsewhere, too. UK media this week noted a stark rise in strokes among adults, particularly in men and women in the 50-to-59 age bracket.
The book details the moment of the stroke itself.
When I sat down with Davies this week to talk about the book and his recovery, he told me he experienced no warning signs beforehand and led a healthy lifestyle. The shorthand for what happened, he says, was a “massive brain bleed”. His months of rehabilitation to recover motor, balance and cognitive function began in earnest soon afterwards.
The book is also an exercise in the slings and arrows of life after a major medical event. Recovery is rarely straightforward or assured, even if popular culture sometimes portrays it that way. The adage about one step forward being followed by two steps backwards can be surprisingly accurate.
In those febrile first days after his stroke, there were initial concerns that his speech and motor functions might not return, but piece by piece they have, and they are. “You cannot rewrite the beginning of your stroke story, but you can choose how your story ends,” he writes.
Davies experienced the gamut of physical, occupational and speech therapy, each one presenting their own pockets of momentum gained and lost. Marginal gains and small wins became guiding principles. He learnt to recognise and manage his emotions on difficult days. He’s found it helpful to remind himself of how far he had come in his recovery each time he reached a roadblock. He says he is a “very patient patient” and understands that every person’s trajectory is different.
“The book is about human fortitude and spirit. There is always a way through these things by being positive,” he says.
“I am very proud of my journey. I have come from being close to not being here anymore, to functioning as a human being again. I am the same person I was before. I am the same character, but my mindset has changed enormously,” he says.
His written work also presents the case for therapy, both physical and mental. Davies writes in the book that anxiety and depression are often “bedfellows” of stroke survivors. Given that the book was born from an instinct to take notes as those early days of recovery began, another takeaway from its pages might be to prove the role of journaling in helping to manage stress and improve well-being.
Davies says that if the book, and his story, helps just one person get to a better place, then it has been worth it. That aim has almost certainly been achieved already.
