Where I am today
Latest update: September 2026
I'm 53 now, more than eight years on from my stroke. I work, train, travel, spend time with my family and live a life that is much bigger than the event that happened to me in 2018.
There are still medical questions in the background. But I no longer think of myself as somebody waiting for life to restart.
Stroke is part of my history. It is not the centre of my identity.
That is probably the biggest difference between the person who left hospital and the person writing this today.
In the early stages, stroke was everywhere. I thought about what had happened, why it had happened, whether it could happen again and what I would still be able to do.
Today those questions do not dominate normal life.
I am living my life — with a stroke history, a cardiac history and a much better understanding of what health means to me.
Life is normal
I work
I remain involved in business and the responsibilities that formed part of my life before stroke.
I train
Exercise remains a consistent part of my week and a genuine part of who I am.
I travel
Holidays, weekends away and enjoying new places are part of normal life.
I have family life
Time with the people closest to me matters far more than living permanently inside a medical story.
I don't want stroke to take ownership of everything that came afterwards
It would be easy to describe every holiday, gym session, walk or family moment as something I achieved “despite stroke”.
I understand why that language is useful, particularly earlier in recovery. But for me it no longer feels right all the time.
Some things are now simply things I do because I enjoy them.
“Life after stroke eventually became life again.”
Exercise is still part of my identity
I train regularly around work and I still enjoy being strong, capable and physically active.
My training is less cardio-dominated than it once was. Strength and functional work form a much bigger part of what I do, alongside walking and more controlled cardiovascular exercise.
I also qualified as a personal trainer, partly because I wanted to understand exercise better for myself and partly because fitness became such an important part of the way I thought about long-term recovery.
I am interested in staying strong, useful, athletic and capable for as long as I can.
Cardio has sometimes been less predictable than strength
If there is one physical area that has continued to frustrate me, it is the unpredictability of harder cardiovascular exercise.
I can complete substantial resistance training and feel strong, while a sustained cardio session can sometimes feel disproportionately difficult.
For a while I interpreted that as evidence that my overall fitness was deteriorating quickly.
The recent clinical picture has been more nuanced than that fear suggested.
There is still an unfinished medical chapter
Atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter remain part of my medical picture.
My recent echocardiogram was reassuring. A 24-hour Holter was interpreted to me as showing atrial flutter as the dominant rhythm, with AFib occurring in the background.
My cardiologist has recommended flutter ablation as the next treatment direction.
At the time of this update I am still waiting for the written cardiology detail, so I am not publishing a precise flutter classification, personal success rate or technical claims about how my PFO closure device may affect treatment.
That means the health story is not finished — but it also does not mean normal life has stopped while I wait for the next part.
What changed most recently
- The echocardiogram was reassuring.
- The Holter gave a more specific rhythm picture.
- Flutter appears to be the dominant rhythm.
- AFib appears to occur in the background.
- Flutter ablation has been recommended.
I can still worry — I just understand the pattern better
I would not claim that I never think about my health.
Recent rhythm symptoms reminded me how quickly uncertainty can pull the mind towards worst-case conclusions. I briefly found myself imagining permanent decline and wondering whether my active life was shrinking.
What has changed is my ability to put those fears back into context once proper evidence arrives.
But having lived through one means new cardiac uncertainty can still get my attention. That is part of my experience too.
I no longer think recovery means recreating the exact person I was before
Capability
Can I still do the things that matter to me and remain useful, independent and active?
Health
Can I influence the things that are within my control without pretending everything is controllable?
Confidence
Can I trust myself enough to live normally rather than waiting for certainty before doing anything?
Adaptation
Can I change direction when something no longer works instead of treating that change as failure?
Purpose
Can something useful grow from what I learned without pretending the stroke itself was a gift?
Life
Can stroke become one chapter rather than the title of everything that follows?
I wanted to build something I would have valued at 44
When I had my stroke, I received medical care — but I did not feel I had somebody like me to relate to.
I had been active and working. Before my own stroke, I had largely thought of stroke as something that happened much later in life.
Then suddenly I was 44 and sitting on a stroke ward.
I would have valued seeing somebody who had gone through it, returned to work, returned to exercise, dealt with new health complications and still built a normal life.
“I wanted the sort of person I couldn't find when I had my stroke — somebody I could relate to and take some confidence from.”
What I want SHF to become
I do not want Stroke Health Fitness to tell people that their recovery should look like mine.
I want it to help people understand where they are, find trustworthy information, see realistic possibilities and decide what moving forward might mean for them.
Over time, that means combining lived experience, practical fitness knowledge, trusted health information, useful resources and human support — without pretending SHF is a clinical service.
Qualifying as a personal trainer changed the project too
I qualified as a personal trainer in 2025.
Lived experience alone does not make somebody an exercise expert, just as a fitness qualification does not turn someone into a stroke clinician.
For me, the value comes from keeping those things in the right places: personal experience where personal experience helps, fitness knowledge where it is appropriate, and clear boundaries around medical and rehabilitation advice.
I wouldn't promise him an easy journey
If I could go back to that first night in hospital — unable to speak properly and trying to make sense of what had just happened — I would not tell myself that everything ahead would be straightforward.
There would be more tests. A PFO. A closure procedure. Further cardiac investigation. AFib. Atrial flutter. Frustrating exercise sessions. Medication. Periods of uncertainty.
But I could tell him something he could not possibly have known at the time:
“This will not be the end of your working life, your fitness, your family life or your ambition.”
I have become stronger, more knowledgeable about exercise and more aware of the value of health than I was before the stroke.
That is my story — not a promise about somebody else's recovery
I was fortunate in many respects.
Stroke can cause profound and lasting disability. Another person's physical recovery, communication, cognition, fatigue, independence and opportunities may look very different from mine.
So when I talk about becoming fitter, stronger or building new opportunities, I do not want that to become another standard somebody feels they have failed to meet.
The useful question is: what can improvement, independence, confidence or quality of life mean for you from where you are today?
My Story finishes here. Moving forward doesn't.
The seven My Story chapters explain how I reached this point. The rest of Stroke Health Fitness is about the much bigger question of what life after stroke can become.
Long-Term Stroke Recovery
Explore what recovery can mean months and years after the original event.
Explore long-term recovery →Exercise After Stroke
Explore walking, gym training, strength, mobility and returning to activity.
Explore exercise →Healthy Living After Stroke
Think more broadly about sustainable habits, health and everyday life.
Explore healthy living →Finding New Opportunities
Sometimes moving forward means finding a new direction rather than recreating the old one.
Explore new opportunities →Start Here
Not sure which part of SHF is relevant? Start with what matters most to you now.
Start here →My Full Stroke Journey
Return to the story hub and follow the journey from the day of the stroke to today.
Read the full journey →Where I am today — FAQs
Do I still think about my stroke every day?
No. Stroke is part of my history, but it no longer dominates normal daily life. New health uncertainty can still bring some of those fears back temporarily.
Am I still exercising regularly?
Yes. Exercise remains an important part of my life. My training now places more emphasis on strength and functional fitness, alongside walking and more controlled cardiovascular work.
Has the AFib and flutter story been resolved?
No. My recent echocardiogram was reassuring and a 24-hour Holter suggested atrial flutter is the dominant rhythm with AFib in the background. My cardiologist has recommended flutter ablation as the next treatment direction, while I await the written clinical detail.
Do I consider myself fully recovered?
I do not find “fully recovered” a particularly useful label for myself. I live normally and remain active, but my health story still includes ongoing cardiac issues. I now think of recovery more broadly in terms of capability, confidence, health, adaptation and quality of life.
Why did I create Stroke Health Fitness?
I wanted to build something I would have valued after my own stroke: relatable lived experience combined with useful information, responsible fitness guidance and clear medical boundaries.
Does my recovery show what another stroke survivor should be able to achieve?
No. Every stroke and every recovery is different. My story is one example of life after stroke, not a target or promise for somebody else.
This page describes Neil's personal experience of long-term life after stroke. It does not provide diagnosis, treatment advice or an individual exercise prescription.
About this page: Written from lived experience by Neil — Founder of Stroke Health Fitness. Neil is a qualified personal trainer but is not a doctor, cardiologist, physiotherapist or stroke rehabilitation clinician. Latest update: September 2026.
More than eight years later, I'm still moving forward
Stroke changed my life, but it did not end my health, fitness, work, family life or ambition. Some parts of the story are resolved. Others are still unfolding. Life carries on alongside both.
Life after stroke. Moving forward.