Lawyer Jolyon Berry had a stroke 18 months ago at the age of 39. He had the stroke at home and his daughter Emily called for the ambulance. Left to right, top, Gayle Berry and Jolyon Berry. Bottom, Xavier, Emily, Caspar Berry.

Soon after returning from a trip to America, lawyer Jolyon Berry developed a headache. It went away after he took painkillers but always came back when the effects of the drugs wore off.

Lawyer Jolyon Berry had a stroke 18 months ago at the age of 39. He had the stroke at home and his daughter (pictured) Emily Berry called for the ambulance.

The headache went on for a week and then Jolyon, who was then 39 and a supremely fit former soldier, collapsed after returning home from work one evening. He had had a stroke.

He now knows the headache was caused by a blood clot in the brain that had probably developed on his flight home from the US. Doctors later diagnosed a hereditary blood clotting disorder and he will have to take blood-thinning drugs for the rest of his life.

Every year 150,000 people in the UK have a stroke. It is the third most common cause of death in the UK and the leading cause of disability among adults. Most of those affected are older people but it is estimated that more than 20,000 people under 65 have a stroke every year and stroke affects children and babies too.

Sixteen months on, Jolyon, a partner at Birketts LLP and head of an employment law team in Ipswich, has made a full recovery but he is all too aware that many others who have a stroke are not as lucky.

Lawyer Jolyon Berry had a stroke 18 months ago at the age of 39. He had the stroke at home and his daughter Emily called for the ambulance. Left to right, Xavier, Caspar, Gayle, Jolyon and Emily Berry.

So on February 12 the father-of-three and his wife Gayle, who live at Wivenhoe, will take part in a ‘firewalk’ at Bury St Edmunds Rugby Club to raise money for the Stroke Association, which is working towards a future with fewer strokes and where those affected get the help they need.

“My family and I went through some very extreme emotions in a very short space of time when I had the stroke, but we have been able to move on. Some are not so lucky and I want to be able to help others,” says Jolyon, 40.

He is convinced the fact that he was so fit - along with sheer luck about the part of his brain affected by the stroke - has been key in aiding his recovery.

Jolyon, a former officer in the Royal Tank Regiment, was taken ill in September 2010.

Lawyer Jolyon Berry had a stroke 18 months ago. On February 12 he and his wife Gayle will take part in a 'firewalk' to raise money for the Stroke Association.

“I have always been fit and that year had had a good summer of bike rides and a triathlon,” he says.

“One of my old army mates is a pilot for Virgin and he and I flew out of Los Angeles for a short trip. It was that flight that resulted in my getting the blood clot. Most people get them in their legs. I got mine in the head.

“I probably got the blood clot on the way home because from the time I returned from that trip to when I ended up in hospital I had a headache. It persisted and went away with painkillers but always came back. At first I put the headache down to travel fatigue and general tiredness as I was a bit under stress at work. I didn’t really pay that much attention to it really although I do remember saying to my wife on one occasion that if the headache didn’t go I’d have to go to the doctor.

“It wasn’t a thunder-clap type of headache but I believe now the blood clot was forming all that week.”

On the day he was taken ill Jolyon had been busy at work, preparing for a big court case.

“We were getting ready to exchange witness statements ahead of a three-week hearing in the High Court,” he says. “I remember driving home at 8pm, wanting to get home quickly and feeling irritated about one or two things that had happened that day. I was also training for a swimming event and had been swimming that lunch time. When I got home I sat down with a cold dinner on my lap, watching TV. The next thing I can remember after that is looking into the face of a paramedic.”

During those ‘lost’ 45 minutes, Jolyon has since learned from his wife, he started to stare at the ceiling and move his head in a strange way.

“My wife thought I was messing about,” he says. “I then fell forwards off the sofa and landed on the floor, having a fit. I had stopped breathing and was laying motionless.

“My daughter, Emily, who was nine at the time, heard what was going on. Gayle told her to ring 999 and Emily co-ordinated the emergency response. A month later we got a call from the ambulance service saying they monitor calls and would like to give her a bravery award.”

Before the ambulance arrived Jolyon had started breathing again and although he may have had his eyes open and even been speaking he was not actually conscious of anything.

“I certainly did not recognise anyone,” he says. “Eventually I came round and was talking to the paramedic. I can remember Gayle looking at me and saying: ‘You have had a funny turn’.

“They took me to hospital. I felt bewildered and was lame on one side but I didn’t really notice it. I just felt tired and a bit vague and listless. I thought it was a lot of fuss about nothing but then I wasn’t really being rational at that time.”

Once at Colchester hospital Jolyon had another seizure.

“I understand now that anyone can have a seizure but the more you have the lower your threshold of tolerance to them becomes,” he says. “The doctors gave me some drugs to knock me out and I came to a day or two later. I spent a good week in hospital sleeping it off. They scanned my brain and diagnosed a clot, which they weren’t actually able to do anything about other than give me anticoagulant (medication to supress blood clotting) drugs. The clot either broke up on its own or is still there but not doing any further harm. The presence or not of the clot is largely irrelevant now and not a problem anymore because my blood is moving freely now. I take warfarin to keep it that way.”

The type of blood clot Jolyon had had is called a sagittal sinus thrombosis, a rare form of stroke that results from thrombosis (a blood clot) of the dural venous sinuses, which drain blood from the brain.

“Afterwards I had a sort of medical apathy, because I had swelling on the brain, and as a result didn’t really care much about my unfortunate predicament,” says Jolyon. “I was peaceful and slept a lot but recovered pretty quickly. I was able to attend my big court hearing and within three months was back at work full time.

“Physically I was pretty much unscathed and emotionally I got stronger over time. My consultant said the brain damage I have is in a part of my brain I don’t use. It doesn’t affect talking and moving. I am now 100% fine. I take warfarin but that’s no problem. I was lucky.

“Deep down I knew I was going to be all right. I did not have the terrible side effects some people have and I was only going to get better from that moment. I was just kind of relieved that the doctors knew what it was.”

Jolyon has since been diagnosed with a hereditary blood clotting disorder, from which his younger brother also suffers. Jolyon himself had an earlier blood clot, a DVT, or deep vein thrombosis, in the leg after he completed the Lonon Marathon in 2004.

“I took warfarin for six months after that but then stopped,” he says. “No one predicted what has since happened. As far as lessons for others go I would say if you have had a DVT in the past be cautious. As I understand it not a huge amout is known about what makes blood clot, It is an imcomplete field of study.

“I think my fitness played an enormous part in my recovery and when I was well enough I got straight back into exercise.”

Almost exactly a year after his stroke Jolyon completed a 100-mile bike ride with a group of work colleagues and clients.

And on February 12 he and Gayle will take part in the Stroke Association’s Valentine’s Firewalk, walking over burning hot embers reaching temperatures of 1300F.

Training will be provided by UK Firewalk, a company led by Guinness world record holder Scott Bell. Last year, more than 80 people took part and raised £17,500.

To sponsor Jolyon visit www.justgiving.
com/JolyonBerry

To take part in the firewalk call 01284 749650 or email valentinesfirewalk@stroke.org.uk

You can also register online at www.stroke.org.uk/fundraising.