Edinburgh dad who almost lost life after stroke shares inspiring recovery journey
The wife of an Edinburgh stroke victim has shared her husband's inspiring recovery journey after he was left with a loss of feeling down his right side.
Duncan Kirkpatrick, 50, suffered a hemorrhagic stroke on December 17 2023, with the event leaving him with life changing injuries.
The former painter and decorator, played golf five to six times a week prior to the stroke, but he was left with close to no feeling in his right arm or leg.
He also developed foot drop, a common post-stroke condition that affects walking. Duncan now wears a custom-designed ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) to reduce the risk of tripping or falling.
His wife, Stacey, a self-employed luxury balloon stylist who was running Elevated Balloons & Events by Stacey, has paused much of her business to support her husband in his recover.
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She's been documenting his progress on TikTok (@roadtorecovery32) to connect with other stroke survivors and their families.
'No one chooses this to happen to them, and you find yourself being part of a unique group,' she explains. 'A stroke doesn't just affect the individual but the wider family, and we wouldn't be where we are now without the invaluable support of my mum, her partner, and our wider network.'
Duncan is making massive steps in his recovery, with the family saying a large part of him making strides has been keeping physically active at Edinburgh Leisure gyms, despite the ex-tradesman believing "the gym wasn't for him."
He now attends the gym six times a week at Ainslie Park, and credits physical activity can transform rehabilitation, wit
'His ultimate aim is to get back to playing golf,' says his wife of 15 years, who has dedicated herself to supporting Duncan's recovery journey. 'But for now, he's concentrating on the simple things we all take for granted, like walking and restoring movement in his right arm and hand.'
The Kirkpatricks' journey with Edinburgh Leisure began in February 2024 when they visited Ainslie Park Leisure Centre to use the pool. With finances tight following an unexpected eviction from their rented home, Duncan has benefited from Edinburgh Leisure's Get Active Card – a membership offering people on low incomes off-peak access to facilities for just £10 monthly without joining fees.
'Duncan was determined to walk into the pool,' Stacey recalls. 'Fortunately, the design at Ainslie Park allowed him to do just that.' With assistance from Edinburgh Leisure staff who provided pool noodles for support, water-based exercise helped build Duncan's confidence and strength.
The couple supplements his Edinburgh Leisure sessions with weekly classes at the NHS Stroke Centre at Longstone, Chinese acupuncture, and their own E-Stim machine, which uses low-voltage electrical currents to stimulate nerves and muscles. They've even tried unconventional approaches such as applying stinging nettles to Duncan's affected calf muscle – a technique Stacey discovered through a Canadian stroke survivor on TikTok.
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'It's the little wins that keep us going,' adds Stacey. 'Only the other day, Duncan called out to show me how he was able to pick up the TV remote control with ease for the first time.'
While Duncan's planned November golfing trip to the USA with friends from Silverknowes Golf Club remains on hold, the couple recently celebrated a significant milestone with his first visit to the driving range at the Braids – a major victory on his road to recovery.
'Duncan's story exemplifies the message we're emphasising about the critical role physical activity plays in recovery,' said Ricky Singh, gym instructor at Edinburgh Leisure's Ainslie Park Leisure Centre. 'His determination shows what's possible when stroke survivors have access to appropriate facilities and support.'
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Scottish Sun
3 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
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My hair's so thin you can see my scalp but miracle £8 product fixes it in seconds, it's an instant confidence boost
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The Guardian
8 hours ago
- The Guardian
‘Am I just an asshole?' Time blindness can explain chronic lateness - some of the time
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Shepard now frequently talks about time blindness and other mental health struggles on TikTok, where she has 1.5m followers. The term has become something of a buzzword in certain corners of the video-sharing app, with some pointing to its legitimacy as a symptom of a medically recognized disorder to explain why they can't get out of the door in the morning. Others use it to vent about their 'chronically late' friends. You know the type: you say 'let's have lunch at 1pm' but make the reservation closer to 2pm, because you've learned to factor in their perpetual tardiness. Everyone has their slow days, but some TikTokers argue that people who are habitually 30 or 45 minutes late are claiming time blindness when in reality they're being inconsiderate. As one person posted in a video liked over 125,000 times: 'I think that being chronically late is a character flaw, and I think that it's disrespectful across the board … I know people are like, 'time blindness' – no, you need to figure out how to be on time for things.' Some people are bad planners. But others, like Shepard, do live with time blindness. 'We all sort of have this internal clock that we use to estimate how much time has passed,' Shepard said, 'but people with ADHD tend to not have as good of an internal clock.' On social media, those who have time blindness share examples of their inability to gauge how long a task might take. For instance, one woman created a timetable for waiting for freshly brewed coffee to cool down, so she doesn't burn herself. (At 30 seconds: 'very hot - ouch!' One minute: 'Hot but could drink if urgent.' One minute 30 seconds: 'Ideal drinking temp.') Dr David W Goodman, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins, clarified that time blindness as a symptom of ADHD or other conditions refers to a difficulty with the perception of the passage of time. He said it is different than poor time management, or when someone can successfully perceive how long it takes to do something but fails to plan accordingly. (So-called 'time optimists', or people who constantly underestimate how long it takes to get somewhere or complete a task, fall into the latter category.) The popularity of the phrase does seem to point to the proliferation of 'therapy speak', or how psychobabble has made its way into the mainstream to excuse poor behavior with fancy-sounding clinical explanations. Could 'time blindness' be a get-out-of-jail-free card for anyone strolling into work 45 minutes late, toting an iced coffee? According to the Attention Deficit Disorder Association, it is possible for people with ADHD to receive disability accommodations at work via the Americans With Disabilities Act, provided they have proper documentation of their condition from a medical provider. Shepard also noted that the rise of remote or flexible work has eased the strain people with time blindness feel, since it eliminates the need for a traditional commute. Still, one TikTok user sparked a mini-meltdown on the app in 2023 after suggesting that employers should allow for disability accommodations for people with time blindness. 'They exist actually!' one user commented. 'They're called watches and clocks and alarms.' On Reddit, professors have voiced frustrations that more universities are allowing students extra time to get to class or submit assignments due to time blindness. 'Any student, regardless of ability, who does not learn what they need to do to show up and turn work in, is not prepared for a job in most fields,' one wrote on r/Professors in 2022. 'We are setting these students up for failure.' Shepard has written accommodation letters for people with time blindness, but she'll also work with those patients on strategies to help them be more prompt. Many are common-sense solutions, such as setting alarms in the morning to denote it's time to start a new task (wake up, brush teeth, shower, get dressed, eat breakfast). Some are less obvious: Shepard said that people with time blindness do better working with old-fashioned, analog clocks that have hands, as it's easier to physically see the passage of time that way. Goodman said it's 'cloudy' whether or not time blindness constitutes a disability for which someone should get accommodations at work or school. 'You really do need to have a formal diagnosis in which that would fit,' he said. 'Not just that you didn't plan or anticipate. You have to make a decision: is time blindness an explanation or an excuse?'
