Megan Cooke

Sheffield Wire • 12th May 2023

Young stroke victims are calling for greater awareness after misdiagnosis

Young stroke patients who were misdiagnosed by medics are calling for action and a greater awareness of their symptoms.

As part of National Stroke Awareness Month, Sheffield Wire has spoken to survivors about their experiences and the fundamental changes they feel would help with a quicker diagnosis.

Lili Vachon is 27. She suffered a stroke in 2021, went to hospital, and was sent home with a migraine after spending hours waiting in A&E without a single test.

She said: “It doesn’t feel good be

Sheffield Wire • 12th May 2023

Sheffield’s Stroke Recovery Service offers support for patients

A stroke survivor has applauded a charity which aims to support and help people regain their confidence after they suffer the potentially life-changing health condition.

Sheffield’s Stroke Recovery Service was set up by Jane Hammond in 2012 after she recognised there was little support for those recovering from a stroke.

Ms Hammond said: “The power of the groups is really significant. Often people struggle to understand what’s happened to them. So there’s a lot of reassurance, information and

Sheffield Wire • 12th May 2023

“Your body can stand almost anything. It’s your mind that you have to convince”

“Try and smile for me,” asked Georgia Hanson’s mum when she complained of a severe headache after waking up feeling unwell in October 2021.

Knowing something “wasn’t quite right”, Miss Hanson, who was 19 at the time, recalls her vision was blurred and she suffered a sudden loss of sensation in the right side of her face and right arm.

Her mum was using the FAST test to work out if she was showing signs of a stroke.

“I knew what she was thinking. When I couldn’t smile, we both knew exactly wha

Sheffield Wire • 12th May 2023

Young stroke survivors call for BE-FAST to help with diagnosis

Young stroke survivors are calling the FAST diagnosis into question after being turned away for not fitting the specified symptoms.

The acronym refers to symptoms commonly experienced by stroke victims and stands for face, arms, speech, and time, but can lead to misdiagnosis for patients who don’t always display these symptoms.

Survivors are instead asking for the abbreviation to be changed to BE-FAST, to include balance and eyes; symptoms more commonly associated with younger people who have

Sheffield Wire • 12th May 2023

Stroke survivor reflects on how her ‘superpower’ has shaped who she is today

When Bridie Kirsopp woke up with a severe headache, which quickly developed into a blurred vision, vomiting, and leaving her unable to stand up, she knew she wasn’t well, but at 17, couldn’t possibly have guessed she was having a stroke.

Neither did her doctors, but five days later, a CT scan revealed she had a clot on her brain.

“I just never thought it could happen to someone so young,” said the fashion blogger, from Leeds, West Yorkshire.

Although Bridie, now 29, only spent a week in hospi

Sheffield Wire • 12th May 2023

“What we need is a culture change”: Stroke survivor calls for tailored care after locked-in syndrome

A Rotherham public health specialist who was left unable to communicate and move after a stroke has called for changes to the way survivors and their families are supported.

In December 2021, Kate Green, 43, was taking her seven-year-old son, Stanley, swimming when she suddenly had a feeling of exhaustion come over her.

She felt an intense pain in her neck after returning home where her husband, Adam, could sense a problem.

Mrs Green said: “Within minutes I couldn’t move my arms or legs, coul

Sheffield Wire • 12th May 2023

“People can sympathise but they can’t empathise”: Peer support group praised for combating isolation in young stroke survivors

A UK-wide charity has made young people feel validated through its peer support group aimed at tackling loneliness in stroke survivors.

Different Strokes is an organisation that connects young people across the country, including Yorkshire, through their shared experiences.

Being run by young stroke survivors for young stroke survivors, the charity set up its own peer-support network, Befrienders, in 2020 after finding a lot of its members felt alone in their journey.

Marketing manager of Dif

Sheffield Wire • 12th May 2023

“I could have died at home”: Young stroke survivor supports Yorkshire-backed campaign after migraine misdiagnosis

A teacher has voiced her support for a health campaign backed by Yorkshire charities after being sent home by doctors despite suffering a “life-threatening” stroke.

In August 2021, Manchester teacher, Lili Vachon, 27, thought her contact lens had slipped after her vision suddenly became blurred.

Despite taking out her contacts, her eyesight didn’t improve and she knew that something was wrong.

Ms Vachon said: “I just remember everything going sideways, I was trying to speak but nothing was ma

Sheffield Wire • 12th May 2023

“I had no idea a baby could have a stroke”: A mother’s story of her son’s perinatal stroke

Nine years ago, Rebecca Merritt embarked on what she thought would be the happiest day of her life, the birth of her first child.

Yet what transpired in the following 24 hours was traumatic rather than joyful, and it would only be three months later that doctors would be able to tell her the reason why, leaving her “completely shocked and silent.”

Her son, Jacob, suffered a perinatal stroke in the womb during birth. Rebecca, 17 at the time, wouldn’t find this out until much, much later. Now 26

Sheffield Wire • 12th May 2023

Young stroke victims face “shocking” average ambulance wait of more than five times the NHS target

Young stroke victims face a “shocking” wait of more than 90 minutes for an ambulance.

Georgia Hanson, 20, suffered a stroke in Pontefract when she was 19.

She said: “It is shocking to hear that waiting times for an ambulance for someone suffering a suspected stroke is 90 minutes – it is however, very believable.

“If an ambulance can get to someone suffering a stroke quickly and get them to hospital, then it gives them the best chance possible of making a good recovery.

“It is sad and scary t

Sheffield Wire • 24th April 2023

Yorkshire MP Miriam Cates calls for review of RSHE after "inappropriate" lessons and secrecy

Penistone and Stocksbridge MP Miriam Cates called for an inquiry into RSHE programmes in the UK during Prime Minister’s Questions in March.

Relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) has been a compulsory part of the curriculum for primary school pupils since September 2020.

Topics covered in primary school RSHE include teaching children how to communicate their own boundaries and recognise the boundaries of others, staying safe online, and the differences between appropriate and inappropr

Sheffield Wire • 27th March 2023

New radical film festival will provide platform for discussion on International Workers' Day

A Sheffield-based cinema group has organised a radical film festival to provide a platform for discussion about industrial action.

The Radical Film Festival, hosted by Community Kino, will allow people taking part in International Workers’ Day to discuss social and political issues in a conversation guided by the films they are watching.

The festival will take place on 1 May at Sheffield Quaker Meeting House on Saint James Street, and is priced at £4.50 per film ticket.

Community Kino founder

Sheffield Wire • 27th March 2023

“Everyone deserves to see themselves as the hero": Kid-lit author of non-binary children's book coming to Sheffield

A bookstore in Sheffield is hosting a reading event with an author who has written a children’s book about being non-binary.

Juno books, a queer feminist bookstore in the city centre, will be hosting L D Lapinski to read from her new book on 16 April. She will also be signing copies on the day.

Lapinski is the author of JAMIE, a book which follows an 11-year-old non-binary child who finds out their secondary school is separated into one school for boys and another for girls.

She said: “Everyo

Sheffield Wire • 27th March 2023

Sheffield Hallam MP Olivia Blake sponsors motion to celebrate Dolly Parton song anniversary

A motion to celebrate the anniversary of a hit Dolly Parton song has been sponsored by the MP for Sheffield Hallam, Olivia Blake.

Parton’s ‘I will always love you’ is celebrating its 50th anniversary at Dollywood, and MP Olivia Blake has sponsored an early day motion (EDM) to recognise the occasion.

Ms Blake, who was one of the first six signatures on the EDM, said: “Dolly Parton is an icon. I know her music holds a special place in a lot of people’s hearts but the impact she has had goes beyo

Sheffield Star • 27th March 2023

Facebook Marketplace Sheffield: Some of the bizarre things for sale in city - including fruit flies

Facebook Marketplace can be the source of some amazing bargains on furniture, electronics and children’s toys, if you are willing to search online.

Sheffield Star • 27th March 2023

Run for Rowan: Sheffield teachers taking on marathons to raise money to replace stolen school bus

Teachers at a Sheffield school for children with special educational needs are running marathons to raise money to replace their stolen school bus.

Forge Press • 22nd March 2023

Hogwarts Legacy: “A game I wish had been made 10 years ago”

Hogwarts Legacy is a game I wish had been made 10 years ago. Set in the late 1800s, the game lets you fully immerse yourself in the wizarding world: you can go and buy potions ingredients in Hogsmeade, fly to quaint villages on your broom and explore the secrets of Hogwarts castle.

I was immediately drawn to the game and pre-ordered it as thinking about playing it made me excited in a way that not many games have in recent years. Just the thought and anticipation of loading it up and seeing wha

Sheffield Wire • 6th March 2023

Sheffield Beer Week kicks off today with hops themed events across the city

The ninth annual Sheffield Beer Week began today with a series of events taking place across the Steel City.

The week, which focuses on supporting independent beer businesses and breweries, runs from 6 to 12 March.

On the line up are several tap takeovers at local bars, pub quizzes, beer showcases and tastings.

Along with the opportunities to drink craft beer and find new local favourites, there are some unique one-off events.

On 8 March, Heist Brew Co and hosting a roleplaying event based o

Sheffield Wire • 6th March 2023

New Yorkshire charity supporting female talent launched for International Women’s Day

A new Yorkshire-based charity focused on ‘leading and inspiring female talent’ launched this weekend.

LIFT hosted their International Women’s Day launch event in Stocksbridge Library on Saturday 4 March.

Co-founders Chloe Wallace and Lynsey Rowe created the community interest charity after realising they had a mutual desire to create change.

Ms Rowe said: “It’s come about from chance conversations we’ve had about us both wanting to do something but not knowing how or who with.”

International

Sheffield Wire • 6th March 2023

Northern leaders to discuss fixing South Yorkshire's broken transport systems

The state of South Yorkshire’s broken transport network has been a topic of discussion this week as leaders from across the North discuss how to transform public transport.

Mayor Oliver Coppard convened a Transport Summit on 1 March to discuss the future of the region’s public transport and bring together experts in the field to help fix the system that has seen thousands of train cancellations.

He said: “My vision is for public transport as a public service, the clue is in the title; trains,