Before his life altering stroke, Luke Mann never imagined himself standing on a stage, captivating an audience with witty humour and inspirational one-liners.
The Adelaide man was just 26 when his stroke struck in August of 2018.
“At the time, I had a bad cold. I got up to go to the toilet and felt a wave of nausea crash over me. I knew immediately that something was wrong and asked my girlfriend to call triple 000,” Mr Mann said.
In hospital, Luke’s loved ones were told he’d had a stroke and to prepare for the worst case scenario.
“I was in a coma for nine days. My friends and family thought I may never wake up, or what my quality of life would be,” he said.
“When I woke from the coma, I was bedridden, I couldn’t speak a word and had severe fatigue and memory deficits. The early months were brutal, but over time my perspective has changed a lot, which is
why I call myself Luke 2.0.”
Five years after his stroke, Luke still struggles with fatigue, loss of concentration and cognitive issues.
But that hasn’t stopped his ambition to follow a lifelong dream of becoming a comedian and poet.
“I have always wanted to get up on stage. But since my stroke my attitude has changed. I don’t fight against myself anymore, which frees me up to pursue my dreams. I feel a keen sense of responsibility to make the most of my second shot at life – for my family, friends and for myself,” he said.
Luke is currently performing in the Adelaide Fringe Festival. His show, touches on his fatigue and sleep problems. Having previously worked in arts administration at both Adelaide and Edinburgh, Luke had the opportunity to grow his networks.
“I make sense of my situation and make disability more accessible by sharing my ups and downs th0rough humour. I love nothing better than to get on stage, crack a few jokes and read one of my poems.”
Luke’s among the 35,000 stroke survivors living in South Australia. While stroke is often thought to be a disease which impacts the elderly, 24 per cent of strokes impact working aged Australians.
Stroke is one of Australia’s biggest killers and a leading cause of disability, but more than 80% of strokes can be prevented. The advice from the Stroke Foundation is to learn the F.A.S.T acronym.
o FACE – has their mouth drooped?
o ARMS – Can they lift both arms?
o SPEECH – Is their speech slurred?
o TIME is critical. If any of these signs appears, call 000 immediately.
