Colin's Story

“Coming here is one of the things that makes me happy. It helps you build your life back up again”

At the Echo Centre in Liskeard, people who have had a brain injury, including strokes, take part in activities that enhance their rehabilitation and recovery. May is Action on Stroke Month, and a perfect opportunity to share a little more about how the Echo Centre has truly ‘improved the lives of people in Cornwall’.

Part of Corserv Care, clients can choose from adapted sports like basketball and cricket, to cooking, quizzes, art, woodwork, singing and gardening at the Echo Centre. Above all it’s a place where people forge good friendships and say they have the chance to ‘feel normal again’ – often for the first time since their injury.

“It helps you build your life back up again,” says Colin, 55.

“I’ve been coming here about 18 months, now, I love it. And the people here, any of them, they’re just so nice, there’s no negativity about anybody.

“I try to keep as active as I can. And coming to the Echo Centre has made it so much better. Half the things we do here, we wouldn’t do at home. What you lot do for us here is fantastic.

“Coming here helps me because I like to get involved as best I can. You’ve got to show willing. A lot of the things you do here, you think to yourself: ‘if you don’t do this, you aren’t going to change’.

“You’ve got to retrain your brain to get things going again.”

Before his stroke, Colin had a very active and busy lifestyle. He had his own parcel delivery business, employing eight drivers.

“We used to deliver all round Cornwall and a bit in Devon, round houses and industrial estates. I love people, I’m a people person and there was always somebody new you’d meet every day, I used to enjoy that, meeting people and talking to them. The boys were paid well, so they enjoyed the job. I had my own little cleaning company at home, the vans used to come round on a Friday night, I used to wash all of them and clean the inside, then they’d take them home. I didn’t mind them using them, so long as they didn’t take the mick, weekends and everything, if they wanted to go on a journey, so long as they put fuel in the vehicle, I didn’t mind them using it and they were all good as gold. You get a good team and you look after them, they will stay with you.”

Sports of all kinds were a big part of his life.

“I was sports mad. I used to do half marathons, I did the one between Kelly Bray and Tavistock five times and the one in Plymouth three years in a row. I used to love rugby, football, cricket, swimming, walking as well – up on the cliffs, just park the car up and walk, wherever. But golf was my main one, I used to play every weekend, I played at Trethorne, and I ended up playing a lot of years down at The Point at Polzeath, a nice course.”

On a morning in 2023 that began just like any other, Colin had a stroke.

Colin (second from right) pictured before he had a stroke, with friends Jez, Tom and Ian after they’d won a golfing competition at The Point, Polzeath

“I woke up, and did what I usually did, got up, made a cup of tea, and came back to the bedroom to get changed for work. I turned, and went down like a sack of potatoes, and I was on the floor, I couldn’t get up. My dog was next to me, and he knew something was wrong, because he wouldn’t leave my side. My partner Eileen when she came back from the school run, she thought me and the dog was messing around like we always did, but no, this time I’d had a stroke. She called the ambulance and it was there in less than 10 minutes, and I was basically straight into Derriford hospital and operated on. They thought I was gone, but they brought me back, and life began again.

“Eileen is good as gold. I’m glad of it, really, I wouldn’t have managed.

“About three or four years before, I’d had a mini-stroke. In the hospital they said to me it was a reminder - it’s telling you to slow down, you’re doing too much. I thought ...yeah...whatever…and I just went back to work. Trouble is you never know what’s around the corner, do you, you go to work and you think life just goes on the way it is. Then something like this happens to you. By then it’s too late, there isn’t a lot you can do.

“When I first had the stroke, I could start to think, you’ll never be the same again, you’ll never walk, you know, it knocks you for six. But I thought, the only person that’s going to get this, is you. It’s just small steps, but build yourself up every day. I know I won’t be able to walk like I used to. It’s getting better and better, that’s the way I see it.”

For Colin, family is the number one priority and he loves spending time with all his grandchildren. Eileen is supporting him in being more independent day-by-day at home and when they go out.

“Being at the Echo Centre has helped me build myself back up. There’s lots of things I can do at home now that I didn’t used to be able to. Doing the getting down and getting up from the floor work has made a big difference, it’s brought me on a lot. And doing the gardening, and the stuff in the greenhouse, I love it.

“I am looking forward to walking properly without a stick. I love the beach, but the trouble is round here lots of them are pebbles, and that’s the most difficult. I love going up on the moor on a windy day. This weekend we’re going to go up and take some sandwiches and have a bit of a walk, if we can.

“That’s the only way you can do it, isn’t it – carry on with life and do a bit more every day.”