Listen to the experts

Dave

Dave is a member of North Aberdeen Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland group

Video quote from Dave

Video quote from Dave in Windows Media format

'My name is David Hartley and I had a stroke when I was 42. But there was a bleed on the brain and I think the technical term for it is a brain embolism. I was a maintenance supervisor for an oil company. I used to enjoy like scub diving, play golf and all kind of activities like that.

'The stroke has effected the way I talk. And it has mainly affected the left hand side of my body. It has also affected my eye sight. My eyes work alright but they both go in opposite directions.

'But the voice that I speak with just does not sound like me at all. I know what I want to say but sometimes they don’t come out of my mouth properly. But I find I am understood better by foreigners when I go abroad. They understand me better because they listen to me.

'The only problem I have with reading and writing is that I cannot write and reading is OK if the print is big otherwise the words move around all over the place and I cannot read it.

'The only barriers I come across in general society is if people speak over me.

'I have a problem projecting my voice so, for example, if I went into a public house I would not be able to order a beer because there may be some background noise; or if the person behind the bar just wouldn’t listen because he or she may have too many customers. With restaurants the problem I have is I cannot read the menus.

'I think mainly it is just education. People have to listen properly.'