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Student criticises lack of support after having a third of her skull removed in stroke operation
A new survey also shows 45 per cent of stroke survivors in England feel 'left alone' after leaving hospital
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Your support makes all the difference.A student who had a third of her skull removed following a stroke has spoken out about a lack of mental health support she received after she left hospital.
Grace Russell, who was 17 when a stroke paralysed her right-hand side, said she has been forced to "self-manage" her depression in the years since.
The story comes as a new poll shows that almost half of all stroke survivors feel abandoned when they are no longer formally a hospital patient.
After a stroke and a coma believed to have been caused by using the contraceptive pill, Ms Russell had to re-learn how to walk, talk, feed herself and read for two months before she was discharged.
The 23-year-old has said the lack of support immediately following treatment has left her dealing with depressive feelings on a daily basis.
"The rehab I was offered was in locations that were really really far away from home. After my stroke, I was scared enough as it was and didn't want to travel and stay away from my family," she told ITV News.
"Depression is also something I have battled with on an almost daily basis after my stroke and eventually I had to take a year out of university in 2014."
She said that while anti-depressants had been "quickly" offered to her, any further therapy or support had never been offered.
The stroke hit Ms Russell as she drove to her gym and left her needing a craniotomy, in which part of the skull is removed to expose the brain, to save her life.
According to a poll by the Stroke Association, 45 per cent of stroke survivors in England feel "left alone" after being initially treated.
Another 27 per cent with a physical disability said they received "poor" or "very poor" therapy once they were at home.
Four out of 10 people, meanwhile, were not to have received the recommended six-month check up on their needs.
Jon Barrick, chief executive at the Stroke Association, said: “These findings are deeply concerning. Currently, too many stroke survivors feel abandoned when they return home as they are not given the right support to begin their rehabilitation.
"Major strides have been made in the way stroke is treated in hospital; however the same is not true when stroke survivors return home.
"No one plans for a stroke, but the government can, and should, ensure that the right care and support is there when people need it most."
An independent review by the Health Foundation has said that George Osborne's planned cuts will reduce the total NHS budget by 20 per cent over the next five years.
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