Wouter’s inspiring story
Wouter knows he didn’t lead the healthiest lifestyle before his triple bypass in 2015. “I was a smoker, and overweight for a long time. As a South African, we tend not to eat healthily. We like our fatty meats, and rich, fried foods, and I did a lot of damage to myself.”
After his heart operation, he made changes - like quitting smoking and improving his diet, but one day in June 2022 his son noticed something was wrong. “My son asked; ‘Dad, are you OK? Your face is dropping to one side - it looks like you are having a stroke.’ Then I started walking and talking strangely, and I lost feeling on my left side.”
They went straight to hospital, where Wouter was given blood thinners and monitored. He was then discharged, but a few weeks later he had a much more serious stroke, which led to months of recovery and hard recuperation work. “The first few months were pretty horrible. I could barely use my left side, and I didn’t like talking to people – I could barely understand myself when I spoke.”
Like many stroke survivors, the road to recovery held some tough personal challenges for Wouter. “You can start to feel down because there are a million questions that go through your mind like, ‘Will this happen again?’ and ‘Am I going to be dependent on others for the rest of my life?’ Being unable to work, and the thought of being a burden to my loved ones scared the living daylights out of me.”
But Wouter was persistent, and connected with experts that could help, including Karen, a Stroke Foundation Community Stroke Advisor in his area, who was there to support him and his family as they navigated their way through their new lives after stroke.
“Her work gets into your spirit, it’s just impossible to feel negative after spending time with her, and that’s very important after having a stroke.” - Wouter
“Karen was such an inspiration,” Wouter told us. “She helped me through everything that was happening and motivated me. The way she would celebrate my progress was just what I needed; to see the good, have a positive mindset, and keep going.
As a man who’s used to working hard, Wouter found his new lifestyle difficult. “Even though I’ve always had support and patience from my family, I felt guilty about not bringing anything to the table. I applied for jobs and was honest about what had happened. But nobody replied, so we started looking into going into business for ourselves.” Wouter now owns a franchise business assembling flatpack kitsets.
He’s taken his healthy eating to another level, and only has unhealthy foods on the rare occasion. At Christmas, Wouter’s family bought him a fitbit scale and watch, and since then he’s lost an incredible 16kg! “I’m working hard to be as healthy as possible because I want to be there for my family,” Wouter said. “I’m determined to make my life a success. I’m not going to let my stroke hold me back, and I’m happy for every day I have.”
The doctors can’t say for sure if Wouter could have another stroke, but like him, minimising your risk comes down to understanding your own health and making choices to reduce your risk. “I shouldn’t have ignored my health,” Wouter explained. “Now I’d say: listen to the good advice and don’t give up. The unhealthy habits are great in the moment, but they really are damaging.”
Karen and Wouter continue to stay in touch to check in on his progress. “All I can say is Karen is one amazing person, and the Stroke Foundation and everyone who supports can be glad knowing that they have someone like her on the team.”
Wouter has made some amazing changes to prevent future strokes. We work to encourage more people to understand and be proactive about their health before a major health event happens. The first step is to know your blood pressure and keep it low, visit stroke.org.nz/blood-pressure to find out more!