‘I could sing before I could speak after my stroke’

Stephen Farlow’s earliest memories centre around music.

The 45-year-old, from Coleraine in County Londonderry, can remember playing on a piano as a child before he could talk.

When Stephen suffered a haemorrhagic stroke (bleed into the brain) in 2016, his family were told it was unlikely he would survive.

He went on to recover but soon found he could sing easily before he was able to speak again.

Research shows that some people can sing even if they cannot talk because we use different sides of our brains for speech and music.

More than a third of stroke survivors are able to sing better than speak soon after their stroke, according to new research from the Stroke Association.

Before his stroke, Stephen was working as a gigging musician and in a music shop.

Stephen’s love for singing showed signs in the early stages of his recovery after he returned home following four months in hospital.

“Music is my life, it means everything to me”, he told BBC Radio Foyle’s North West Today programme.

“After I had my stroke, I could only say a couple of words and they were ‘keyboard’ and ‘guitar’ but I was using them in the wrong context.

“I lost faith after my stroke. I found it difficult to comprehend. It was terrible.

“I love country music, singers like Dominic Kirwan and Daniel O’Donnell.

“I found I could sing better than I could speak and I felt then maybe, that yes, I could perform again.”

With encouragement from family and friends, Stephen slowly started to return to music by relearning how to play the keyboard with his left hand after losing the power in his right side.

His wife Pauline said music gave Stephen a focus in his recovery that also helped with his mental health.

“We got a singing teacher to help Stephen and very quickly he picked it up again.

“It helped his mental health straight away.

“Our local church and social club let him use their hall to practice.

“He just felt on top of the world again”, she said.

Pauline said they had been told at one stage that Stephen would be bed-bound and require constant care following his stroke.

“Music was all Stephen had on his mind, that was so powerful, that gave him the determination to be the person he is today,” she said.

“It gave him the motivation to get out of bed, practice his speech.

“Music gave him the strength to help me return to the Stephen he was before the stroke.”

In Northern Ireland, more than 4,000 people survive a stroke every year.

The Stroke Association’s survey found that more than half of stroke survivors said that singing, listening to music or playing an instrument had a positive impact on their recovery.

Alasdair O’Hara, the NI director for the Stroke Association, said singing can a be a “powerful tool” in recovery.

“According to our research, a significant number of stroke survivors can sing or hum before they can speak,” he said.

“Music supports people’s emotional well-being as it gets people back into what they love.

“This is an area we really work to support through the Stroke Association’s voluntary groups.”

A stroke occurs when blood stops flowing to a part of your brain.

The first signs include:

• face weakness – it might be hard to smile, and one side of your face may droop
• arm weakness – you may not be able to fully lift both arms and keep them there because of weakness or numbness in one arm
• speech problems – you may slur your words or sound confused

Other symptoms might be:

• sudden weakness or numbness on one side of your body (including in your leg)

• sudden loss of vision or blurred vision in one or both eyes

• sudden difficulty speaking or thinking of words

• sudden memory loss or confusion

• sudden dizziness, unsteadiness or a sudden fall, especially with any of the other signs

Source: NHS.uk