By Jessica Micallef
Kyneton’s Jo Hudgson is stepping up to raise money for the Stroke Foundation.
In February, Jo’s mum Maureen Green suffered a stroke that caused her to lose 75 per cent of the right-hand side of her brain.
Jo was visiting her mum when Maureen said she wasn’t feeling well.
“She was a bit wobbly and a the time, she had blood running down her arm,” Jo said.
“As I took a step towards her to help her sit down, she lost her balance, fell back and hit her head on the cupboard and I straight away called Triple-0.
“She was unresponsive and I had to do compressions because she was not breathing. I only had been in the house for two minutes so it was good timing.”
Maureen was transported to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where doctors confirmed she had a stroke on the right-hand side of her brain.
“She had damage to 75 per cent of her right side of the brain and she has memory loss.
“She lives in the past now. You’ll ask her what she has been doing and she’ll say she was sitting on the veranda with her mum and dad who died 45 years ago … there is quite a bit of memory loss and confusion.”
After spending two weeks at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Maureen was transported to a geriatric evaluation and management facility before she was transferred to the Kyneton Hospital.
Maureen requires 24-7 care and is bed and chair-bound. She is currently living at Bupa Aged Care in Kyneton.
Jo said when Maureen was transferred to the aged care, strict COVID-19 restrictions were introduced so she wasn’t able to see her mum for six weeks.
“It was really hard,” she said.
“We did video chats but it’s not the same. I was so excited to see her again and when I could, that first visit was horrible.
“She was a completely different person. She was angry and quite agitated. She’s a lot better now but after that first visit, I came out in tears.”
Now, Jo has set herself a challenge to walk 100 kilometres around Kyneton as part of The Stroke Foundation’s Stride4Sroke fundraising event next month.
She is also hoping to raise $2000 for the foundation.
“Mum was quite active, she would walk her little dog almost every day and I used to joke and say she was fitter than me,” she said.
“I’m probably at a higher risk of having a stroke because mum had one so I need to get out there and be active.
“I don’t think people think about having a stroke because they think it won’t happen to them.”
To donate: bit.ly/31rAhHv
