A teacher by trade, Mirela Giles felt stripped of her identity and purpose when stroke stole her ability to communicate earlier this year.
The Lake Macquarie woman was at home when her stroke struck in February. The 45-year-old lived alone at the time. Thankfully, a tradie who was working at her house called for help.
Paramedics arrived within seven minutes. They completed the F.A.S.T. (Face, Arms, Speech and Time) test and took her to hospital.
Mirela’s stroke left her with aphasia, a communication disability which affects talking, comprehension, reading, writing, spelling, texting and typing.
“Having worked as a teacher, speech was like my superpower. In the blink of an eye, it was taken from me, and I was left with no purpose, direction, or income,” Mirela said.
“Improving my speech as quickly as possible was crucial as I wanted to return to my teaching job. But the more I stressed about it, the worse my speech became, which was incredibly frustrating.
“Intuitively I started to sing and hum, which seemed to help. I signed up for singing classes, alongside speech therapy and it was miraculous how it came back. I was discharged after just six weeks.”
Mirela is sharing her story during June which is Aphasia Awareness Month. She is among the 140,000 Australians who live with aphasia.
Stroke Foundation Chief Executive Officer, Dr Lisa Murphy said aphasia affects people differently.
“We know one in three survivors of stroke will experience difficulties with their communication,” Dr Murphy said.
“Some people have occasional problems finding words. Others find all communication difficult. Some people find reading and writing difficult. Others have trouble understanding speech.
“One way people with aphasia can seek help is by using Stroke Foundation’s information service StrokeLine, which is manned by a team of health professionals who provide advice, support and referrals.”
Mirela, who has almost completed a health science degree hopes to use her experience to help others in the future.
“I want more people to know that aphasia is not something you can control, and we need support from the community to overcome our communication challenges,” Mirela said.
