![\"Thomas](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_Thomas-1jpeg.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHe was someone who has always been fit and active, running many marathons and half marathons.<\/p>\n
Thomas had no symptoms or warning signs before having a stroke at just 50<\/p>\n
A Northern Ireland man has opened about suffering a stroke out of the blue in February last year at the age of just 50.<\/p>\n
Thomas Gray from Newtownabbey<\/a> had no signs or symptoms and was someone who has always been fit and active<\/a>, running many marathons and half marathons.<\/p>\n He explained: \u201cI had no health <\/a>concerns before my stroke. There were no signs or symptoms that something like that might happen. On the morning I had my stroke, my wife had made me a cup of tea, and I went to get it and just hit the floor. I had absolutely no warning of what was coming. Afterwards I found out my blood pressure was sky high, but I didn\u2019t know about that at the time.<\/p>\n READ MORE: ‘Our incredibly special marathon challenge in memory of our mothers’<\/a>READ MORE: ‘I was left anxious and worrying about the future after a life-changing heart diagnosis’<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t know what had happened to me after I collapsed but we knew it was serious because I couldn\u2019t move my right-hand side. My wife remained very calm and managed to get me into the car and took me to the Mater Hospital, but they then rushed me to the Royal Victoria Hospital<\/a>. I was trailing my right leg and had lost power in my right arm.<\/p>\n \u201cI was fortunate that I was able to get thrombolysis which is a clot busting medication. I am one of the lucky ones. My wife was there when I had my stroke and acted fast to get me help. I had scans and thrombolysis in about an hour and a half. Time is of the essence with stroke, and I was fortunate that way.\u201d<\/p>\n According to NICHS, 51% of stroke survivors are under 75 years old and over 42,500 people in Northern Ireland <\/a>have a stroke or TIA, also known as a mini-stroke, diagnosis.<\/p>\n Thomas added: \u201cI still find it hard to believe that I had a stroke as I\u2019ve always been an active person. I\u2019ve completed ten marathons and lots of half marathons. I wasn\u2019t concerned about my health and had no warning signs of anything being wrong. That\u2019s exactly why I\u2019m sharing my story, to raise awareness<\/a> that stroke can happen to anyone, at any time, at any age.<\/p>\n \u201cLooking back on things now is a bit easier but it has been a tough time emotionally as well as physically. You think about the \u2018what ifs\u2019 and it took me a few months to work through that. Stroke obviously has a physical impact, but there is a huge mental impact that comes with it too. I was only 50, I didn\u2019t expect anything like this to happen to me.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a lot to process and deal with. But I also want to let other stroke survivors know there is life after stroke. If sharing my story helps give others some hope that would be a great thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Thomas has always been active and has completed numerous marathons and half marathons<\/p>\n Now, a little over one year later, Thomas is preparing to take on local health charity Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke\u2019s (NICHS) Red Dress Fun Run to raise awareness of young stroke as well as vital funds for the charity\u2019s work.<\/p>\n Speaking about his recovery journey Thomas said: \u201cWhen I was discharged from hospital, I had occupational therapy and physiotherapy at home for months. I was also referred to Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke and availed of their Family Support service. The team were really encouraging and gave me lots of very helpful advice and information about living with the impact of stroke.<\/p>\n \u201cNICHS also advised me to talk to my GP about being referred to the Healthwise scheme so I could go to the gym and work on my recovery. I go to the gym at the Valley Leisure Centre and the staff there have been great, giving me programmes to work on and monitoring me. I\u2019ve found exercising at the gym so helpful to my recovery and I wouldn\u2019t have known about the Healthwise scheme if NICHS hadn\u2019t highlighted it to me.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cThe public might not realise the work NICHS is doing to help people. My eyes were opened to the range of services the charity provides. I would urge anyone who has a stroke to take all the help they are offered right from the start. I didn\u2019t do that- at first, I thought I could just get on and deal with things.<\/p>\n \u201cI was saying I was ok but deep down, I did need that help and support offered to me and I should have taken it from the get-go. At the start there is an awful lot to take in but I would urge people not to bury their heads in the sand or shy away from help. NICHS is there to help you make the best recovery possible so please take their help.<\/p>\n \u201cFortunately, I have recovered well. I have regained power in my right-hand side, and it only really affects me now if I am extremely tired. I do suffer from fatigue although it is not quite as bad as it used to be thankfully. I get brain fog when I\u2019m tired and I can\u2019t concentrate but exercising and building my fitness levels back up has definitely helped me to control the fatigue. I have also been able to return to work which was my main aim after my stroke.<\/p>\n \u201cI am an example of how you can recover from stroke. It isn\u2019t easy, it\u2019s hard work. To look at me you would never know I\u2019ve had a stroke. So again, that\u2019s my motivation behind sharing my story to raise awareness and to also give hope to others.\u201d<\/p>\n This weekend’s Red Dress Fun Run will be Thomas\u2019 first event since his stroke<\/p>\n Thomas\u2019 recovery journey and return to exercise has led to him setting his sights on completing Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke\u2019s upcoming 5K Red Dress Fun Run.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cNICHS really helped me after my stroke so that\u2019s why I\u2019m doing the event, to give something back. I have always been a runner, but this will be my first proper event since my stroke. I did a parkrun recently for the first time in over a year. It was tough but I managed it.<\/p>\n \u201cThe running community is very supportive and that really ties in with the Red Dress Fun Run because it\u2019s for everyone and anyone, no matter their age or ability which is great. I\u2019m really looking forward to the day, and it will be a great way to mark how far I\u2019ve come since last year.\u201d<\/p>\n Last year, the Red Dress Fun Run had over 700 people take part, and the charity is once again hoping for a sea of red participants at this year\u2019s event which takes place at Belfast’s Stormont<\/a> Estate this Sunday, March 22.<\/p>\n You can still sign up to the Red Dress Fun Run at www.nichs.org.uk\/RedDressFunRun<\/a>.<\/p>\n Want to see more of the stories you love from Belfast Live? <\/strong>Making us your preferred source on Google<\/a> <\/strong>means you\u2019ll get more of our exclusives, top stories and must-read content straight away. To add Belfast Live as a preferred source, simply <\/strong>click here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He was someone who has always been fit and active, running many marathons and half marathons. Thomas had…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":833223,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[78905,105,81144,87752,1144,455,15288,11191,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-833222","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-fitness-and-wellbeing","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-in-the-know","11":"tag-newtownabbey","12":"tag-northern-ireland","13":"tag-real-life","14":"tag-royal-victoria-hospital","15":"tag-stormont","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116248283166640288","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=833222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/833223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=833222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=833222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=833222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Thomas](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1_Thomas-2jpeg.jpg\")
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