"From Paralysis to Power: A Stroke Survivor's 800 km Journey to Advocacy"

Posted on 5 November, 2024 by Hillsborough Dental

Paul’s story of horrendous illness and miraculous recovery is the kind of news we need to hear more of.

As a married teacher in 2016 Paul suffered a catastrophic stroke one Saturday morning.

Several of the events that followed were out of the normal, but added together to save his life.

The first ambulance that arrived on the scene was unsuitable for Paul and precious time ticked by before a second ambulance arrived capable of helping him. This vehicle should normally have taken Paul to Craigavon Area Hospital, but instead for some reason was directed to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.

It was a Saturday morning so many of the consultants were enjoying their weekend, but the top Neural Radiologist happened to have called in to sort something on his time off.  He saw Paul’s CT scan and was able to diagnose and instigate an immediate mechanical thrombectomy operation which saved Paul’s brain from being destroyed by the advancing bleed.

There was however already severe damage done affecting mobility and speech, but through persistent hard work and perseverance of both Paul and the medical staff, he re-learned how to walk and how to talk over the following year. To this day he is only able to read short sentences.

By 2018 Paul’s mobility had recovered sufficiently that he took on the 800mile walk of the Camino de Santiago in the mountains of northern Spain and raised a considerable sum of funds for the Stroke Association.

This resulted in them being able to fund an additional speech and language therapist in NI.

Unfortunately Paul’s teeth had suffered severely throughout this time due to several factors.  He had frequent absent seizures during which he clenched with a force great enough to crack and even break teeth.  He was sick a lot during the early days and this regurgitant is extremely acidic, dissolving teeth and weakening them.  Many medication which are needed contain sugars and Paul also developed a habit of chewing lemons and limes – both of which damaged his teeth.

So by the time Paul was introduced to me through our Giving Back Smiles program, several of his teeth were either already gone or were damaged beyond repair. His smile had gaps and remaining teeth were short and worn making him look aged. To cover this Paul’s long present beard and moustache grew longer to hide his teeth, and he rarely smiled broadly at all when I first met him.

Paul described later to me a loss of self worth back at this time. He went very quiet and wouldn’t ask for help.  He continued to speak at events for the Stroke Association to help raise awareness, but was reluctant to engage with individuals.

Over a period of just under a year, I designed a treatment plan to not only aesthetically restore his smile, but also to stabilise his teeth, to improve his bite function, and to mitigate against further clenching damage.

The physical results speak for themselves when you examine his before and after photos.  The teeth are obviously improved with gaps filled and new crowns, veneers and bridges. Look however at the smiling in the eyes, the additional lift of the cheeks and pull back of the upper lip. The lower lip forms a natural curve along the edges of the upper teeth as opposed to the original holding down in a grimace. Whether consciously or sub-consciously I notice in virtually all aesthetic reconstruction cases that patients improve their general appearance also such as hair, beard, make-up, glasses, and certainly Paul is no exception in this respect.

Paul tells me his dental treatment outcome has resulted in increased confidence particularly in engaging more in one to one conversations around Stroke Association benefits and needs. He is more vocal for the Association and now talks with NI Assembly MLAs promoting it.

My favourite result for Paul however is the story he tells of the day he went home after our dental treatment was completed, and was greeted by his 3 year old son who said “Daddy, I like your teeth.”

Paul smiles all the time for his family now.

You can find out more about Paul’s journey here.