Community stories

“I felt prepared. I had my ‘mental’ checklist, I was ready to proceed.” This is how a neurologist in Italy’s Salerno province describes her first experience of thrombolysis more than 13 years ago. After this bold beginning came a series of challenges, but the light at the end of the tunnel sparkled with the brilliance of a diamond award.

In 2018, three nurses at the Regional University Hospital of Málaga were assigned the task of reviewing protocols in their newly refurbished stroke unit. The solution they came up with has revolutionised post-acute stroke care in their region and will soon be implemented in hospitals around the world. This is their story.

War images are gut-wrenching storytellers – fragments of suffering and cruelty, frozen in time. What is remarkable about those in neurosurgeon Dr Yurii Cherednychenko’s unusual collection is that through brave and skillful intervention he can change the way these stories end, not only in this but in every war.

Hosted by Angels and the Stroke Society of the Philippines (SSP), the meeting had a single goal – to spark a culture of quality monitoring among stroke-ready hospitals in the country. This is how they turned challenges into champions.

FAST Heroes is an award-winning schools-based programme designed to boost public awareness of stroke. Its superhero theme is enchanting children around the world, but as these stories from South Africa show, its impact is turning some into real-life heroes.

Angels Day in South Africa turned out to be a tipping point for stroke care at Life Wilgeheuwel Hospital whose stroke team was inspired by the success stories of other hospitals. In recalling its impact, they say the magic words: “If they could do it, so could we.”