Community stories

A second chance is “a new mandate” for stroke survivor Mauro Carruccciu who owes his life to finding the right people in his most vulnerable moment. He now shares his story in training workshops to help ensure that other stroke patients will find the right people too.

When it came to treatment, too little too late turned Fabiana’s stroke at 37 into a preventable catastrophe. Eleven years on, she reflects on what was lost, and what it means to be differently abled in an indifferent, impatient society.

In 2016, just 306 patients underwent thrombolysis throughout Ukraine. By October 2023*, that number had risen to almost 1,200 – in a single month, in the middle of a war. Prof Sergii Moskovko recounts the exponential growth towards stroke care excellence in Ukraine.

Raquel Gonzalez had a stroke minutes away from the hospital where she has been a nurse for three decades. Now back at work, she shares lessons about slowing down, the emotional, physical and clinical cost of stroke, and the need for empathy.

"I give them a free hand to bring their ideas to the table. And once they start working on these ideas, then the wonder happens." Angels team leaders Kamila Fachola (Brazil) and William Masih (India) took advantage of the WSC to learn from each other's leadership styles.

As an experienced Angels consultant, Alicia Arjona understood how fragile the lives of stroke patients were. But when the patient was her beloved grandma, and care failed, she went from feeling sad and mad to steely determination.