Athlone stroke survivor to launch memoir of recovery

Athlone stroke survivor Carrie Minagh is preparing to launch her new memoir, detailing the story of her recovery after a brain aneurysm that changed her life forever.

'Carrie’s Story: A Memoir of Survival, Healing and Learning to Live Again After a Brain Aneurysm', tells the story of a fit and healthy 33-year-old whose life was turned upside down in a matter of hours.

The launch will take place on Sunday, September 20, at 5pm at Shamrock Lodge, Athlone.

On May 28, 2014, Carrie’s day began much like any other: she was up at 6am for CrossFit, followed by a walk with her dog, Sooty, before getting on with her day in Athlone.

Then, suddenly, an overwhelming pain struck. By that evening, one side of Carrie’s face was drooping and her right arm had become severely weak. Her mother immediately realised something was seriously wrong and brought her to hospital.

A scan revealed a bleed on the brain caused by a brain aneurysm. Carrie was transferred to Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, where she underwent emergency surgery.

Complications followed, including sepsis. Carrie lost both her speech and movement and was left facing the terrifying reality of being unable to speak, move her limbs or explain what she was feeling.

At first, even saying the letters of the alphabet was a struggle. Then, with the help of a nurse’s aide, Carrie managed to stand and take a few steps between two hospital beds. It was only a tiny distance, but to Carrie, it represented something enormous: hope.

Her rehabilitation journey took her from Beaumont Hospital to Portiuncula Hospital and eventually to the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire.

Speaking, reading, writing, climbing stairs and showering independently all had to be relearned. Carrie learned the alphabet by walking up and down stairs labelled with letters. She worked on numbers, speech and mobility, pushed herself through physiotherapy and gradually began to reclaim abilities that had once happened automatically.

There were barriers along the way some caused by her injuries and others by circumstances and systems around her. At one point, while Carrie was still profoundly dependent on others, her sister-in-law Emily had to advocate for her to remain in hospital rather than be sent home before she was ready.

Carrie writes that intervention “changed everything”. Her family had their own fears as they watched the independent young woman they knew suddenly become dependent on others.

For Carrie, there was another difficult reality to confront: accepting that the person she had been before her brain injury could not simply be restored.

By May 2015, Carrie had progressed to writing simple descriptions of her day, even though speech remained a painstaking process that demanded enormous patience and practice.

Today, at 45, Carrie chooses not to define herself by what she lost, but by what she achieved. “I promised myself I was going to get better, no matter how long it took,” she writes.

Now, twelve years later, the woman who once had to learn how to write again has written her own story. Published by Oakleaf Press, Carrie’s Story is deliberately told in her own voice. It is described as "raw, deeply personal and at times heartbreaking", but above all it is the story of a woman who refused to give up.

Her message is wonderfully simple: “Today is a good day, and tomorrow hasn’t happened yet.”