James Stephens

James Stephens

James is a New Zealander. He was a teacher, musician and music director, a journalist and event manager – as well as a husband, father and grandfather.

He was a voracious reader, a fluent writer and confident speaker.

In 2015, he suffered a hemiparesis, a middle cerebral artery territory infarct.

In a word, a stroke.

He collapsed, paralysed on his right side, and couldn’t speak or write. The hospital intervention was rapid. They administered a clot-busting injection. His limbs were free but his speech was … absent.

He had/has aphasia.

Aphasia is the loss of a previously held ability to articulate ideas or comprehend spoken or written language, resulting from damage to the brain caused by injury or disease – in this case, a stroke.

With expert therapists in speech, music and eurhythmy he has re-invented himself. He has a positive and optimistic outlook, electing to view his stroke as a ‘stroke of luck’.

“My aphasia forced me to look at my life differently. My expected biography has changed. Now, I am an author – apparently.”

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email: james.stephens.dms@gmail.com


facebook: https://bit.ly/3bH6kZr

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