As a former Royal Marine Commando, Troy Johnson has faced many challenges in his life, but his biggest came while he was out on a cycle in May last year.
After a “bad day at work” under lockdown conditions, he went out on his bike to relieve stress.
All seemed normal until Troy, 53, noticed a strange feeling in his right arm as he reached down to grab his water bottle.
Getting off his bike to retrieve the dropped bottle, his movement seemed off and he struggled to keep his balance.
He then contacted his wife, who couldn’t understand what he was saying down the phone so left home to find him.
She immediately recognised Troy had undergone a stroke, which came as a huge shock given fitness levels and experiences as an ultra-tough Marine.
The stroke affected the left side of his brain, meaning the right side of his face had dropped and he had lost almost all use of his right eye and arm.
Troy was initially sent to Astley Ainslie Hospital’s specialist stroke recovery ward.
During an incredibly difficult time, his battle-hardened mentality drove him on.
“I’m challenge orientated anyway,” Troy says. “When doctors told me I had the chance to get back to normal, that was the only thing I needed to hear.
“The nurse told me that the pain I was feeling was nothing to do with my muscles and was in fact neurological, so that was another challenge as I knew I had to go through pain.
“I told myself ‘I’ve had a stroke, now I have to beat it’ but I also needed to understand it and remap my life so I could cope with it.”
That is exactly what Troy did; and he recently returned to his work in cyber security. He has also been able to get out exercising again.
Partly he attributes his relatively speedy recovery to his “marine mind set”.
“Things like thought patterns, being change-orientated and a growth mindset mean that every day I will set myself a challenge,” Troy says.
“There’s a narrow divide where you can become frustrated by not making enough progress.
“I didn’t know that, as a stroke patient, you are more inclined to become depressed. I knew I had to help myself move forward and actually try to manage [my recovery].
“All the therapists who helped me said they had never worked with a person of my skill set, which massively helped my recovery.
“I wrote my own objectives down, which included getting back a lot of physical activities such as kayaking, running and cycling.”
The latter is something Troy undertook recently to mark the first anniversary of his stroke.
He used this as an opportunity to give back to a charity that helped him when he needed it, having now raised well over £2,000 for Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland.
The support he received from the charity was a key contributor to his journey back to normality.
Through the organisation he was put in touch with people who had been in a similar situation, making him feel less alone.
Troy describes the cycle as “painful” and “emotional”, since the route was purposely designed to go past the location where he suffered his stroke.
Troy also hopes his charitable efforts and story help to give stroke survivors hope that they too can get on the road to recovery.
“As the fundraiser started gaining momentum, I realised that a lot of stroke victims needed help to understand that that is not it, the world is not over and they can recover.”
To find out more and donate to the fundraiser, click here.
