About Neil
I'm Neil, the founder of Stroke Health Fitness. I had an ischaemic stroke at 44.
What followed changed the way I thought about my health, exercise, recovery and ultimately what life after stroke could look like.
Years later, that experience led me to create Stroke Health Fitness.
The day everything changed
Before my stroke I was working, exercising and getting on with everyday life.
Stroke wasn't something I expected to happen to me in my forties.
After a high-intensity exercise session, I later developed aphasia while sitting at home. I knew what I wanted to say, but I couldn't communicate properly.
My wife called 999 and I was taken to hospital, where the investigations into what had happened began.
Leaving hospital was only the beginning of a much longer journey.
Recovery wasn't a straight line
My recovery involved much more than simply leaving hospital and getting back to normal.
There were investigations, uncertainty, changes to exercise, confidence to rebuild and health issues that continued to develop over the following years.
Recovery continued long after hospital
Over the following years I went through further investigations and monitoring.
A patent foramen ovale — a PFO, or opening between the upper chambers of the heart — was identified and later closed.
Atrial rhythm problems subsequently became another part of my own health story.
Those experiences affected the way I exercised, how I thought about my health and how much confidence I placed in my body.
They also taught me that recovery can continue long after the obvious signs of stroke have disappeared.
Learning to exercise differently
Exercise had been part of my life before my stroke and I wanted it to remain part of my life afterwards.
But returning to exercise wasn't simply a case of picking up where I'd left off.
Over time I've had to adapt the way I train, particularly as cardiovascular issues became part of my own health story.
Today my own training is much more focused on resistance work, functional strength, walking and cardiovascular exercise that works for my circumstances.
Rather than giving exercise up, I learned to change the way I trained.
That experience eventually encouraged me to study fitness more formally.
Lived experience — with clear professional boundaries
My experience of stroke is personal to me. It doesn't make me a doctor, physiotherapist or stroke rehabilitation specialist.
I have, however, gone on to qualify as a Level 3 Personal Trainer, and I continue to develop my knowledge around fitness, healthy ageing and returning to physical activity.
Stroke Health Fitness is built around combining genuine lived experience with responsible, useful information — while being clear about where medical, rehabilitation and other appropriately qualified professionals are needed.
Stroke Survivor
First-hand experience of having a stroke in my forties and the years of recovery, investigation and adaptation that followed.
Level 3 Personal Trainer
Qualified in personal training, with a strong interest in strength, fitness, healthy ageing, confidence and sustainable physical activity.
Still Learning
SHF will continue to develop through further education, professional input, research, partnerships and listening to other stroke survivors and families.
FitBum Personal Training
Alongside Stroke Health Fitness, I also run FitBum Personal Training — my separate general fitness and personal training brand.
FitBum focuses on practical strength, fitness, body composition, confidence and helping people build training into real life.
Separate from SHF
FitBum is general personal training. It is separate from the stroke information and support provided through Stroke Health Fitness and should not be interpreted as clinical stroke rehabilitation, physiotherapy or medical care.
What happens after the immediate recovery?
There is excellent information around recognising stroke, hospital treatment and rehabilitation. But living after stroke can create new questions for months and years afterwards.
- Can I exercise again?
- Why am I still tired?
- How do I rebuild confidence?
- How do I become more independent again?
- What about work, relationships, travel and healthy living?
- What happens next?
That's what SHF is becoming.
Stroke Health Fitness is being developed around the broader journey of life after stroke — not simply the immediate medical event.
Exercise is part of that. But so are fatigue, confidence, independence, healthy living, work, relationships, family support and discovering what life might look like from here.
My recovery isn't your recovery
You'll see a lot of my own experiences throughout Stroke Health Fitness.
I share them because lived experience can sometimes be useful, reassuring or motivating.
But stroke affects people very differently.
Something that worked for me isn't automatically appropriate for somebody else.
SHF should help you explore information, possibilities and useful questions — not tell you that you need to recover the way I did.
Building something genuinely useful
Stroke Health Fitness started with my story, but I don't want it to remain a website simply about me.
We're building a broader resource for stroke survivors, partners, families and carers.
That means useful information, better ways of navigating recovery, more personalised pathways through SHF and, eventually, responsible ways of combining digital support with human connection.
Life after stroke. Moving forward.
Not pretending stroke didn't happen.
Not pretending recovery is easy.
But continuing to explore what might still be possible.
Stroke is part of my story — not all of it
Today I work, train, walk, travel, spend time with my family and continue to set myself new goals.
I still have my own health considerations and I certainly don't have every answer.
But I'm considerably further along the journey than I was when I first left hospital.
If sharing what I've learned — while bringing together useful information and support from elsewhere — helps somebody else move forward, then Stroke Health Fitness will be doing what I created it to do.
Follow Neil and Stroke Health Fitness
Follow the development of SHF, new resources, fitness content, partnerships and the wider conversation around life after stroke.
Where are you in your journey?
You don't need to read my entire story before exploring SHF. Start with whatever matters most to you today.
Important information
Stroke Health Fitness shares general information, lived experience and fitness-related education.
Neil's personal experiences are his own and should not be interpreted as individual medical, treatment, exercise prescription or rehabilitation advice.
Speak to an appropriate healthcare professional about your own health, treatment or rehabilitation.