'There's a lot of life to live, you just have to keep going'

GRAN SHARES STORY AFTER DAUGHTER SPOTTED SIGNS OF STROKE ON AIRPORT RUN

- By JADE MCELWEE

FROM the moment she comes through the leisure centre door in her wheelchair, JoJo Wynn is smiling. It's Friday, and that's her favourite day of the week, because it's when she comes for a swim as part of her rehabilitation after having a stroke.

She's been coming to IB Leisure, in Ingleby Barwick, nearly every week since February, last year, and her positivity in the face of adversity has made her a popular customer. "It's the freedom I get from being in the water that gives me such a feeling of joy," says the 69-year-old mother-of-two and grandmother-of-four, from Hartburn, near Stockton.

In the week in which World Stroke Day falls, JoJo is telling her story to raise awareness of the condition, and to give hope to others going through post-stroke treatment.

Every day in the UK, another 240 people face the life-changing impact of a stroke, a disruption in the blood supply to part of the brain, which can affect speech, movement, and the ability to swallow. The theme of World Stroke Day this year is 'Every Minute Counts', underlining the importance of acting quickly when someone shows signs of having a stroke.

In JoJo's case, it happened in the early hours of August 20, 2022, when she and her husband, Graham, had driven to Leeds Bradford Airport to pick up their daughter, Felicity, son-in-law, Simon, and five-year-old grandson, Gabriel, from holiday.