With tears welling in her eyes, Bec Moore is now ready to share her story of survival almost two years after experiencing a severe stroke.
It has been a long journey to recovery for the 27-year-old but Bec is hoping she can help show others that even in the darkest times there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
10 December 2016 started out as just another day. Bec had finished mowing the lawn when suddenly she didn’t feel right. Not sure what to do and worried for her three children who were at home with her, Bec immediately called her mum.
“I told my mum that my eyes had gone funny and I didn’t know what was wrong,” she said.
“My daughter was hysterical and mum said call the ambulance, so I did.
“They came and got me and the kids then all I remember is being wheeled into the hospital. After that I have no memory until the end of February.”
Following that day Bec spent three months recovering in Mackay Base Hospital where she had to start all over, learning everyday tasks again like speaking, eating, writing and walking.
“I went through the hardest times in my life after my stroke,” she said.
“One moment that has stuck with me is when my mum brought a birthday card to hospital for me to sign. I couldn’t remember how to write my kids’ names and so I had to write from Bec and the kids. It absolutely cut me up inside.”
It took Bec almost two years to accept she had a stroke but now she is proud of the strong, independent woman she has become.
Bec credits a lot of her recovery to the support she has received from the health workers that cared for her.
Mackay Base Hospital Nurse Navigator Donna Chapman was one of those health workers who has quickly turned into one of Bec’s strongest support networks.
“I was brought onto Bec’s case in January 2017 and she was my first referral as a Nurse Navigator,” Donna said.
“While Bec doesn’t remember all of it, I was right by her side throughout the entire journey working alongside the Stroke Pathways team at the hospital.
“Bec has also received support from a range of services – IDEAL Placements, CHATS, speech pathology, psychology, social work, physio and occupational therapy. All of us have worked together with Bec just to make sure she could recover as best she could and survive what has happened.”
After everything she has been through Bec is now looking towards the future.
“It has been a rollercoaster but now I’m ok with it because I know I still need to get stuff done,” Bec said.
“It has been a lot of adjusting to get me to this point and I have lost friends and family along the way because they just don’t understand what I am going through. But I now know it’ll all be ok, it just takes a little bit of time.”
