It was a cold and snowy January morning five years ago when I found a dear friend slumped in his chair, breathing but unresponsive, his empty coffee cup rolled away from him on the carpet. It was three days since I’d last seen him, hale and hearty on a bird-watching hike.

When the ambulance team had him wrapped and strapped on a stretcher, I asked, “Do you think it’s a stroke?” “Probably,” was the terse answer.

Six months later my friend was moved from hospital, after a minimum of therapy, to a care facility. Five months after that he was brought to my home for a holiday gathering. His life was lived from a wheelchair now, but his speech was returning, along with recognition of old friends.

A new friend opened up a whole new world for this stroke survivor and for me, his advocate.  “Starting in January, why don’t you come and join us at Stroke Club?” he asked. He himself was a stroke survivor, working constantly to maintain and improve the mobility his stroke had left him.

Over the next few weeks, we sought more information about this Stroke Club, officially known as Stroke Recovery Association of British Columbia. The local Stroke Club, as its members like to call it, started about 28 years ago and still has some of its original members! Currently there are about seventy members in the local club.

They first met in the old SOS building where they could have space on the first three Fridays of every month, but not the fourth Friday. Not willing to give up that one Friday, every month they decided to make it a “lunch out” day at a local restaurant.

When the club moved their meetings to the church hall of St. Columba at French Creek, they wanted to keep up that day out for lunch, and they have done so, having a social Friday with a tasty meal at such as the Quality Inn Bayside, and Tan’s Kitchen in Parksville, Trees in Coombs, and Deez Bar and Grill in Qualicum.

On Tuesdays from 9:30-11:30, their home caregivers and spouses meet, if they wish for a coffee morning at Trees, in Coombs.

So what exactly goes on at a Friday Stroke Club meeting? Much more than you might imagine.  Members arrive, alone or with their caregivers at St. Colomba just before 11 AM; they arrive by car, bicycle, wheelchair equipped van, or HandyDart. They walk in unaided, or with help or with the aid of their trusty cane, and carrying a bag lunch.

Once assembled in their large circle, the club’s real work begins. Some go for one-on-one speech therapy with the two speech therapists, before rejoining the rest who are participating in close to an hour of carefully planned movements and exercise and games under the specialized instruction of a therapist, who winds up her session with a few minutes of jokes or riddles, with club members sometimes adding their own bits of fun. Each person participates as much as he/she wishes, and according to their abilities.

Often when the exercises are in session, caregivers and friends sit or stand on the sidelines going through the movements themselves. Or, they may get together in another room to share experiences and learn from each other. Every third Friday a caregiver counsellor joins the club to offer help and insights into the survivors’ recovery.

Then out come the tables for lunch and relaxed visiting, followed by art or music therapy or a talk by a special visitor. From time to time the club will have special outings or barbeques at interesting places around the district or at members’ homes. The club has annual fees, and also raises funds to cover rental and therapy costs with raffles and garage sales, often helped by members themselves.

Volunteers are an important part of the Stroke Club to help with tea and coffee service in the kitchen, as well as to take on the duties of organization, and record keeping.

If you or someone you know might benefit from the activities and friendship of the Oceanside Stroke Recovery Group, or if you would like to volunteer, please Google ‘Oceanside Stroke Recovery’ or call one of the following for more information: Kathleen Falvai 250 586 6766; Mary Jane Turner 250 752 7435; Suzanne Rizzuto 250 586 8619.

Having a local “Stroke Club” is indeed a stroke of luck.

Nancy Whelan
Email Nancy Whelan

See all articles by Nancy Whelan