Rob and Sue's story

Rob and Sue are thick as thieves. They share a lifetime of adventures together which all began when they met on a ski field. Sue had just returned home to New Zealand from Europe and was looking for her next adventure so, together with her friends, she joined a ski club. Little did Sue know she would find her future husband when she hit the slopes that day. The two have been married for 56 years.

Rob is a chartered accountant, who grew up on a farm in Te Kauwhata before attending boarding school, whereas Sue, would go on to run her own travel agency in Auckland for thirty years. The walls of their retirement home are adorned with interesting photographs and keepsakes from their globetrotting together. Whether sailing on a Turkish ship to Haifa, travelling throughout Africa, or cruising around South America, they have certainly lived a full life and continue to do so.

Still very much active, and keen golfers, Rob and Sue are just as happy conquering eighteen holes these days.

Their most dangerous experience in life, however, would take place in 2020 in their previous home’s kitchen, of all places. Rob and Sue take turns making cups of tea after dinner and, on this particular occasion, Sue had drawn the short straw!

“I was lifting the two cups up and I thought, ‘That's funny, I can't manage the right-hand one,’ so I thought I'd put it down and took a couple of steps and thought, ‘Oh, I can't even lift this one. I’ll put it down.’ Oh boy!”

Rob, meanwhile, was starting to worry.

“I wondered where the hell she was, so I called out and I got no reply.”

He went to investigate further and found Sue collapsed on the kitchen floor.

“I knew (what had happened) as soon as I saw her, because I had Stroke Aotearoa’s F.A.S.T. sticker on my filing cabinet downstairs and she was talking another language.”

F.A.S.T. encourages everyone to learn the signs of stroke and get immediate help: Face drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulties and Take action - call 111.

Rob phoned for help straight away.

When the ambulance turned up, a nosey neighbour thought it was for Robert, who had experienced heart issues in the past. Although Sue’s grandmother had died from a stroke, Sue suffered no health issues at all. Sue was shocked.

“I never thought I would have a stroke. I never had anything wrong with me."

At Auckland City Hospital, when Sue came to, the doctor asked her a few questions, and she realised her speech was back to normal. She was asked to move her arms and legs – and felt very relieved when they responded. Sue felt she was back to her normal self.

Sue turned and saw the surgeon and doctors shaking hands and smiling. She witnessed the elation as the stroke team expressed, what she came to realise, was a highly successful outcome.

“At the time, I was not aware of the magnitude of what they had achieved."

Sue did some detective work and learnt from an article that she had received an innovative clot retrieval procedure where a microcatheter was inserted into her femoral artery and gently positioned into the arteries supplying her brain. The clot is located using precision artery-scanning equipment, and a mesh-type stent to capture the clot and retrieve it.

Sue was transferred to her local North Shore Hospital where she would be monitored for a further two nights. She now uses medication to help control her blood pressure. While she has a bit of trouble remembering things, Sue debates if it’s because of the stroke or that she’s just getting older! Regardless, the couple continue to live their best lives.

Rob and Sue haven’t forgotten Stroke Aotearoa’s help in saving Sue’s life either. A simple F.A.S.T. sticker was all Rob needed to know how to take swift action.

The couple have decided to leave a gift in their Will. Rob and Sue’s hope is that it will prevent many more strokes happening and help stroke survivors to enjoy the best life possible.