Stroke survivor Alvin Tay shares an inspiring story on how he battled stroke, and learned to live again.
FEATURE
By Alvin Tay
Before I had a stroke, I took health very lightly. I was your typical Malaysian who would travel extreme distances just to get a good bowl of kari laksa or bak kut teh.
I would drop everything I was doing to join my makan and drinking kakis when they called. Sports and exercising never really made it onto my list of things to do as I was not a big fan of sweat.
I worked long hours as a regional director of a multinational corporation, and never knew what enough sleep and rest felt like.
My life was filled with stress but I always went about thinking that age was just a number, and I could start relaxing when I retired.
The wake up call
On June 10, 2013, I got a wake up call. Sudden numbness struck my face, arms and leg. It was a terrifying feeling, like I didnt have bones and simply couldnt control my body motions. I felt dizzy and had trouble walking. The right side of my body had lost its balance and I was panicking. I could not understand what was going on and why this was happening to me.
After checking the symptoms on Google, I realised that I could be having a stroke. My wife rushed me to a hospital, but the world was not on my side that day, and the traffic was not kind to me. The first facility I went to was not equipped to deal with stroke and could not handle my condition.
See more here:
How I survived stroke