This has been the most personal piece I have ever written in my career. In 2017, I had a spontaneous brain haemorrhage whilst at work. The life-threatening health event turned my world upside down and it took multiple surgeries to repair the damage, forcing me to take almost half a year away from work.
Being a private person, I didn’t talk about the incident much as usually saying “I had a brain haemorrhage” opened the door to a lot of questions and I was fully capable of talking about it. I also didn’t want what had happened to define who I was so I stayed quiet and worked my way through the recovery process without being subjected to any special treatment.
The one year anniversary of my haemorrhage meant that, clinically, I was out of the “high risk” zone. I wanted to use the opportunity to talk about my experience openly as I had realized there wasn’t enough conversation around stroke survivors and, having proved that I was fully capable of working in the industry put me in a position to break the silence and the stigma around it.
My story came out on online at graziame.com on 8th November, 2018 – exactly one year after the incident. The feature garnered international attention, with stroke survivors from around the world reaching out to me to thank me for going public with my story. My story was so successful online that the editor went on to publish it as a three-page feature in the 80th anniversary issue of Grazia Middle East.
Read the full feature online here.
“I am proud of what I have accomplished, grateful for having been given this second chance at life, and blessed to be surrounded by such incredible family and friends.”
