What is it like to lose the life you know in a moment? 14 years ago when Richard’s heart stopped beating for 4.5 minutes - everything he knew was forced to change.
Many people described his survival as “lucky” - but for the first seven years he felt quite the opposite, trapped within circumstances that he had no control over. He could no longer walk, talk or work and faced huge physical, emotional, relational and psychological challenges.
He had to accept that his previous hopes, dreams and way of life were no longer attainable and a sense of isolation followed, and a feeling of now being on the ‘outside of society’ - a problem that people didn’t know how to handle.
When you hard prune something in your garden it looks drastic, it’s hard to imagine life continuing, but give it a year and new life bursts out and around the old wounds. Dick has rebuilt his life from the ground up and shaped by the limitations of his stroke.
He now lives with a gratefulness for the simple but important things in life and has a deep empathy for those who feel mis-understood.
Train yourself to be grateful for the important things in your life.