Kate Allatt
A 70-mile-a-week runner and mother of three, Kate Allatt, nearly died after suffering a severe stroke caused by a blood clot in her brainstem in 2010.
When Kate woke up from an induced coma three days later she was completely locked-in – her body was completely paralysed except for her eyes, however her brain was fully functioning and she could see, hear and understand everything going on around her. She felt helpless terror as she was trapped in her own body unable to move or speak. The nursing staff and my family assumed she was brain damaged and the doctors said she would never walk or talk again.
After three weeks Kate's husband and best friend noticed that Kate was blinking in response to things going on around her, they realised that she could communicate via a system of two blinks for 'yes' and one blink for 'no'.
Nine weeks after the stroke Kate was off the critical list and moved to the rehabilitation ward where the next stage was to learn to accept and live with her severe disabilities. However three months later Kate decided to prove everyone wrong, she spent days just looking at her limbs willing them to move. She gradually regained flickers of movement in her right hand, which she was able to work on with physiotherapy exercises to strengthen her grip. Soon she was able to use a computer and Facebook, providing a valuable communication tool and lifeline to her family and friends. Within months of physiotherapy, she managed to sit up.
Her family had been informed that Kate would never speak again, however she defied all odds and, five months after her stroke, spoke her first words, she later said to her speech therapist 'I will walk out of here and I will run again.'
Finally seven months later Kate made the emotional walk out of the hospital ward to the car for her journey home. Exactly a year to the day after her stroke, she ran her first 20 metres.
One of Kate's favourite quotes is by Winston Churchill 'Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it's the courage to continue that counts.' Kate keeps these words in mind and shares them with other stroke survivors.
Kate is now a sought after public speaker, internationally published author of 'Gonna Fly Now! Locked in laughter unleashed' and 'Running Free', she is the founder of 'Fighting Strokes' and was voted 'Extraordinary Women of the year 2011'. Kate has the ability to make you laugh, to cry and then to laugh again, in what would seem a very desperately sad subject matter she educates her audience with speeches that are jaw dropping and interactive, her core competences are empathy and humour.
See Kate's showreel:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15rwB8rHXl4&feature=share&list=UU2dkUAUQ70PgSDAk2Q4KEgw&index=6
""Can you imagine being buried alive, trapped inside your body, then going on to make a full recovery, becoming a charity founder/global stroke rehabilitation expert, patient advocate and international keynote speaker, in just 4 years? I have to pinch myself!" Kate Allatt 2014"
A 70-mile-a-week runner and mother of three, Kate Allatt, nearly died after suffering a severe stroke caused by a blood clot in her brainstem in 2010.
When Kate woke up from an induced coma three days later she was completely locked-in – her body was completely paralysed except for her eyes, however her brain was fully functioning and she could see, hear and understand everything going on around her. She felt helpless terror as she was trapped in her own body unable to move or speak. The nursing staff and my family assumed she was brain damaged and the doctors said she would never walk or talk again.
After three weeks Kate's husband and best friend noticed that Kate was blinking in response to things going on around her, they realised that she could communicate via a system of two blinks for 'yes' and one blink for 'no'.
Nine weeks after the stroke Kate was off the critical list and moved to the rehabilitation ward where the next stage was to learn to accept and live with her severe disabilities. However three months later Kate decided to prove everyone wrong, she spent days just looking at her limbs willing them to move. She gradually regained flickers of movement in her right hand, which she was able to work on with physiotherapy exercises to strengthen her grip. Soon she was able to use a computer and Facebook, providing a valuable communication tool and lifeline to her family and friends. Within months of physiotherapy, she managed to sit up.
Her family had been informed that Kate would never speak again, however she defied all odds and, five months after her stroke, spoke her first words, she later said to her speech therapist 'I will walk out of here and I will run again.'
Finally seven months later Kate made the emotional walk out of the hospital ward to the car for her journey home. Exactly a year to the day after her stroke, she ran her first 20 metres.
One of Kate's favourite quotes is by Winston Churchill 'Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it's the courage to continue that counts.' Kate keeps these words in mind and shares them with other stroke survivors.
Kate is now a sought after public speaker, internationally published author of 'Gonna Fly Now! Locked in laughter unleashed' and 'Running Free', she is the founder of 'Fighting Strokes' and was voted 'Extraordinary Women of the year 2011'. Kate has the ability to make you laugh, to cry and then to laugh again, in what would seem a very desperately sad subject matter she educates her audience with speeches that are jaw dropping and interactive, her core competences are empathy and humour.
See Kate's showreel:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15rwB8rHXl4&feature=share&list=UU2dkUAUQ70PgSDAk2Q4KEgw&index=6
""Can you imagine being buried alive, trapped inside your body, then going on to make a full recovery, becoming a charity founder/global stroke rehabilitation expert, patient advocate and international keynote speaker, in just 4 years? I have to pinch myself!" Kate Allatt 2014"
