Aspiring broadcaster finding her feet after stroke

“In the beginning I was always crying a lot, and I was scared for my life. I thought I would die and leave my child. But because of the strong support given to me by my family and teachers, I was able to persevere even though it was not easy,” these are the words of Nomvuyiso Woshe, a young woman who suffered a stroke.

Woshe, 30, a mother to a seven-year-old girl and a native of Cathcart, said that it is not easy, and everything is slow.

She was attacked by this medical condition in 2019 when she was in her first year of Versatile Broadcasting studies at Walter Sisulu University in East London.

She said that she saw her life change suddenly and unexpectedly and that disturbed her studies and her dreams.

She recounted how the medical condition started, she suddenly could not walk and then she could not talk.

“In 2019 I was doing my first year at WSU and my life was good, everything was going well for me. The changes in my health started in the month of August after being attacked by this condition,” said Woshe.

This young woman was forced to drop out of school that year when she was about to finish her studies. Her inability to do anything for herself halted her pursuits.

Woshe has a new sense of life injected into her. She managed to get back on her feet and returned to WSU this year to finish where she left off with her studies.

She said that her health is not the same as before, but she is getting better because she is receiving speech therapy at Frere Hospital in East London since her speech was affected.

An experienced nurse, Nobom Nini, said that when you are attacked by this medical condition, there is reduced or interrupted blood flow to the brain that hinders brain tissue from receiving oxygen and nutrients.

She went on to say that stroke can cause the brain to never function properly, cause paralysis or even death.

According to Nini, the risk factors of stroke is high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking and so on.

Nini also encouraged the public to visit health facilities at all times, especially when they have unusual symptoms in their body in order to get immediate help.

This week is known as World Stroke Awareness Week.