Two years back, Andrew Hyde suffered a massive stroke and was completely paralysed on one side. But, with phenomenal will power and determination, he got back on his feet and returned to a demanding job. Read his inspirational and life-altering recovery.
Looking back, I should have seen it coming.
I used to work in the oil rig in Kakinada(Andhra Pradesh). The job involved a great deal of physical labour and mental challenges. Sometimes we had to work for 48 hours without a break. My lifestyle was a little wayward. I used to smoke excessively, nearly 3 packets a day. I would drink and eat out regularly.
I used to get warning signs from my body - a nagging headache on my right side just above my neck, my eyesight had become a little weak and I used to have trouble comprehending my work. There was also numbness on my left side. But I was brash 43-year-old and thought nothing could happen to me.
Hit by severe stroke
Then on October 2018 I suffered a massive stroke.
At that time, I was at home in Kolkata. After lunch I lay down for a short nap when I discovered my left hand and leg were completely numb and frozen. I tried to bend my knees and raise my hands, but they seemed lifeless. I tried desperately to get out of bed, but I toppled on my face. I thought sometimes this numbness happens for a brief second and made a second attempt to get up. This time I fell down and hit my head on the dressing table.
Then I panicked. I knew something was terribly wrong. My left hand and leg were totally paralysed. I was crawling on the floor. My friend put me back on the bed. This happened at around 2 pm. I didn’t know what was happening, my friend too looked worried. We had no clue of what this was. We tried calling an ambulance, but none of them were coming immediately. Somehow, with the help of building drivers, I was dragged down and taken to the nearest hospital. A CT scan revealed that there was major block in my brain. I was immediately given the TPA clot buster drug. But in all this panic and delay, I had already crossed the window period. The golden hours last for 3 hours. I was late. By next morning, I had lost all sensation in my left limbs and was fully paralysed.
The first thoughts that struck were, “Will I be able to walk again? How am I going to go back to work?” That was killing me that time. Tears began rolling down and I began to cry inconsolably.
I was in the hospital for 7 days. Once home, I started physiotherapy as advised. I had kept a nurse in the morning and an attendant in the evening because I couldn’t move out of bed, I couldn’t go to the bathroom, I could do nothing. Those days were really bad. My mental condition was in shambles. I used to pray every night, “God please don’t wake me up tomorrow because I don’t want to live like this.”
Then after 10 days, I visited my neurologist. After he examined me, I asked point blank, “Doctor, will I get better? Will I be normal again?” He looked at me straight and said “No, no you won’t.” That really angered and agitated me. I told myself, this is the last visit I am paying to this doctor. I am going to get better. I am going to walk again. I am going to go back to work. And I made that determination. I said, no way I am going to be a cripple.I decided that whatever has to be done has to be done by myself. Since then I began a gruelling phase of return to health.
Related Reading: When Should We Start Post Stroke Rehabilitation
Long recovery
First I started by taking small steps around the house with the help of my attendant. Since the right side of the brain had died, I didn’t know how to bend my knee, or put my foot forward. My sister is a nurse in the US and she used to coach me. The whole day I used to work. I used to sleep for an hour in the afternoon eat my food and keep walking, maybe till 9.30 at night. Things were coming back, but very slowly. They say the last thing to come back is your hand and if neglected it would be totally redundant. I could see voluntary movement of my fingers so I knew there was hope.
Through it all, I had only one thought in mind – that I have to get back to work. There was no option B for me. My sister would say, “Andrew, you can go back to the call centre or maybe start something of your own. You can take an easy job. You can sit down and work.” I told my sister I have kept no other option for myself. I am not opening a business, nor am going to do anything else. I am going back to the oil rig. Everybody was thinking I was being unrealistic, unreasonable, overambitious. And I could get that feeling from them also. But I was not being overambitious. I was determined. I knew I would go back to work. I have to go back to work. And there is no other life of mine, except getting back to work. That conviction drove me to work harder.
Then I got my treadmill. I slowly started walking on that. I would use it in the mornings, afternoons and evenings. I was working nearly 9-10 hours a day. Even after dinner, there was no resting. I would get on the treadmill and start walking. My brother got a pulley installed in the house for my hands. The physiotherapist and my family used to often sympathise with me and say, “Andrew, you don’t have to push yourself so much.” But I was too determined to get back to work.
Things started happening quickly because I was pushing myself.
Water therapy
Then I read something about water therapy. I said I want to go into a swimming pool. Everyone said, “No, you can’t go. As a stroke patient you need a certificate from your neurologist.” I knew my neurologist would never give me that certificate. Finally, with great difficulty, I managed to identify a pool which accepted me. Against the advice of everybody, I said this is the next step I have to take. So I went to the swimming pool slowly. There were two people assisting me. And that’s when my actual recovery started. Initially, I used to just walk in the pool. The pressure and resistance of the water helped me strengthen my arm and leg remarkably.
This was in six months after my stroke. I wanted to move fast. The company had stopped my payment and had asked me to resign. That was bad news for me. I had to plead with them. “You can put me on leave without pay. I have served for 9 years in this company. I have never had a bad record. I have never messed up on a job. Give me chance to come back to work.” Then I started speeding up. There was no option. I knew I didn’t have time. They can tell me any time, “Andrew you are fired”.
So I began pushing myself more. I started swimming twice a day. I had learnt how to walk and swim. Now I wanted to start playing either football or cricket. I knew I couldn’t do that. But I wanted to run. Now I needed to move ahead with more rigorous exercise. I bought a football. I went to the Maidan in Kolkata. I used to kick the football and run after it. But I was a little embarrassed, because I used to run very funnily. My leg used to go all over the place. People used to stare and kids would laugh at me. Then I started going to PrinsepGhat which was a little desolate. Here, I started walking faster and faster, then one day I began running. I began coming to PrinsepGhat every morning for a run. I was continuously doing something – running or walking. I even started doing push ups.
Call from my company
Then a call came from my company. They wanted me to join back. They said they would give me a relaxed job in the yard. “You don’t have to go to site.” I asked them for some more time because I was not sure of going out into the real world. I was in a very controlled environment all this while. From what I understood about stroke and recovery is that you have your fears, and you have to overcome those fears. So one day I decided to keep my attendant at home and face the world alone. It was a risk I took. I chose the extreme. I decided to board a bus. So from Mauali I got into a crowded bus. It was difficult. The bus was moving and jolting and I had a tough time maintaining my balance. Somehow, I bought my ticket. I realised my fear was slowly dying. I got down at New Market area. I told the bus conductor to stop completely before I got down. And I walked through the entire New Market which is always bustling with people. I got back home, and that feeling of achievement, that was another drive.
I never believed in the power of the mind. It made no sense to me. But slowly I was becoming a convert. The mind is such a powerful thing, I never knew that.
And then I sent my videos to the company, and I said I am ready to come back to work. I may not be able to join active service right away, but I am willing to join the yard. I got on to my first train ride from Kolkata to Bokaro. This was eight months after my stroke. Next day I dressed up in my overalls, my helmet, my safety glasses and I felt good. Then I went to work.
But my goal was to get back to the rig, where I felt I belonged.
After a few months, I contacted my company and I said I think I am ready to go back on field. The company said that I was required to fill a form to get clearance from my neurologist. The doctor checked me and he filled up the form, and wrote – “Fit to resume work with restrictions” - because my hand was still a little stiff, there was a bit of spasticity still there. Hence, I was not allowed to go on the rig, and I was back to the yard again.
Top of the world
Then I started working on my left hand. I did everything possible like washing clothes, washing plates, brushing my teeth. I even started writing with my left hand. I felt the strength returning. So when I felt ready, I went to the doctor again. He checked me thoroughly again and this time he gave a clean chit. He wrote – “Fit to resume work”. I got that and sent it off to my company immediately.
On January 2020, 15 months after I was paralysed due to stroke, I joined the oil rig again as a service specialist. Believe me, I am on top of the world getting back to work again.
I would like to thank all who helped me through this journey to recovery - my family, especially my mother, who at 82 years took care of me like a baby, both my brothers who took time out from their busy schedule to support me, my sister who invested her time to give me the guidance and push when I was down, my present neurologist Dr.Jayanta Roy and, most importantly, my caregiver,Krisna, who worked tirelessly to help me back to life.
