"For myself and my wife, we knew nothing about strokes as such - what was a stroke. I didn't even know there were different types of strokes until I got talking to people who had actually been on that same journey.

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One of my good friends, his whole left side of his body was incapacitated so I sort of asked him to come see me when I was in hospital. I was surprised. I was so surprised that my stroke was actually different to his stroke and that every other person out there that's had a stroke are potentially on their own journey.

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Now, I find myself being educated.

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I became sick within a few days of actually feeling the effects of having a stroke. I didn't know - I just thought I had a headache so I just started popping panadols thinking I could have a sleep and it would go away and that I'd wake up the next day and I'd be fine.

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I didn't know that a year down the track, I wouldn't be working.

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I didn't know that I would have to make all these changes to my lifestyle, more than I had ever done my entire life. 

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The first challenge that I've always had - acceptance. It's a big word for me and to be honest I'm still on the journey of accepting things but I think I'm getting there.

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You know, the word that comes to mind for me whenever I think of Neuro Connection is safe. This is a safe space - mentally, physically and emotionally. I come here and I feel safe because I'm amongst other people that help me to feel safe. I think that's really hard to find.

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There's no expectation, no judgement [at Neuro Connection]. It's just 'hi, how can we help you? Let's help you'."