Being a Warrior

So why 'The Warrior"? I could have titled this blog "Stories of a stroke-survivor," for instance. It's certainly eye-catching, but I thought that there must be plenty of those around the blogosphere.

Then I remembered the nickname which I started to pick up around the business-networking circuit pre-stroke. "Warrior' may well have been a deliberate mispronunciation of Warrillow, but it certainly became a lot more appropriate after December 16 2013. I'm not sure which of my good friends Debbie Huxton or Paul Rimmer used it first (in truth, I'm not sure that they are, either....) but does it really matter?

After my stroke, of course, "The Warrior' became synonymous with my fight to get my life and my mobility back. It became a nickname I used wherever I did talks about my experience and the fact that it sort-of sounds like Warrillow helped.

Then, I joined the Different Strokes Facebook group for stroke-survivors and their carers (The FB group is a closed group, but I recommend their website at www.differentstrokes.co.uk) and 'met' 18-year-old Jade Driscoll-Batchelor from London, who also called herself "The Warrior". Jade has had far worse things happen in her young life than a stroke, which it's not my place to discuss here, but we immediately hit it off and the 'Warrior' nickname cemented our friendship.

Now, I'm not going to be so arrogant as to say that Jade and I are the only two 'Warriors" in the stroke-survivor world, because everyone who survives and fights a stroke or any other life-changing illness is a warrior in my eyes, but I know the 'Warrior' attitude helps both of us (and everyone else, of course) get through the bad days which are an inevitable part of stroke-rehab. It also helps us take on the good days and make the best of them.

So the 'Warrior' attitude seems perfect for this blog. It's why my Facebook profile pic features a Mitsubishi Warrior truck (you don't want to see my face, honestly....) and every once in a while, something happens to remind me how important it is to retain that attitude.

One of those things came this week, when Jade sent me a link to a song by the American heavy metal band Papa Roach. Now being the wrong side of 50 doesn't stop me liking tattoos and heavy metal, as far as I'm concerned. As I've said here before, you're as old as you think you are and only on my really bad days do I feel the wrong side of 50. One of the things which Jade and I share is that love of tattoos and heavy metal, so she was sure I'd appreciate Papa Roach and this song. She's right. Every time I've played it this week, which has been a lot, I've thought of all the warriors I know who fight disability every day of their lives.

Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qot3Ubz16Jo