Stroke survivor mum reveals her ‘mental health hell’

Lexy Walton-Godfrey, 29, poured her heart out as new findings revealed that almost a million people in the UK who have survived a stroke have developed at least one mental-health problem.

Lexy said: “I didn’t think that having a stroke would be such a daily struggle for me mentally. I have days when I feel disconnected from the world around me. Days when I feel so low, irritable and angry.

“I get frustrated and annoyed with myself when I do something wrong that I wouldn’t have done before my stroke. I also get anxious when I’m around people I don’t know.”

The findings were released after an extensive survey by the Stroke Association. Lexy now wants to help convey the message that stroke survivors “might still be going through hell”, even if they look ‘better’.

She added: “Sometimes I wish that my difficulties were visible or physical, so that people could understand more.

“The truth is I think about my stroke every day, and I can’t see there ever being an end to that. Recovery can feel very lonely because only you know what is going on in your brain. I try to stay busy so I don’t have much time to think.”

Lexy suffered her stroke in March, only 17 days after giving birth to daughter Hollie. She was left with cognitive problems, including memory loss, left-sided weakness and severe aphasia, caused by brain damage.