Giving a Voice to Those that Don’t Have One
The Power of Giving Someone a Platform
When we are young there are a lot of things that we can take for granted.
Little things… simple things.
Our arms and legs. Our senses; smell, touch, sound, taste, and sight. Our health. The people around us.
Yet, when we really think about these things. They are not so simple or little.
Because once you lose one of these things… it becomes everything.
It becomes something you long to get back.
You want normalcy.
You want the missing piece in your life.
Like most, I took these things for granted… until something changed in my life.
The Shake-Up - I had a stroke
When I was 18 years old, I became a stroke survivor.
Yes, you’re reading that right! A stroke survivor… at 18. Not a very common thing to happen to someone at that age.
In my case, what I lost was my health. I had to stop everything. It shook up my entire life. I was in university, and I had to drop out of school. I had to rehabilitate to re-learn how to type, write, learn, read, walk, think, feel sensations, communicate, and manage my day-to-day.
When you have a stroke, a portion of your brain is damaged. Your brain is your body’s operating system, so if one part of the brain is damaged, the whole system slows down. As you can imagine, this was very hard to deal with.
However, I was extremely fortunate and had an incredible recovery. I had amazing doctors and therapists that helped me drastically improve throughout my journey. While I still had my own challenges and struggles, I improved to the point where I could go back to university.
I didn’t want to take my life for granted, so when I came back to university I really wanted to do something for others. I want to see how I could help others that were in the same situation as me. I was so lucky to get the private treatments that I got, so I wanted to raise money and awareness for the Heart & Stroke Foundation and to help educate people about stroke. To help future stroke survivors get the treatments that they need.
The Mind Shift: I had a stroke... of luck
The other reason I was so motivated to help others was because of my experience in the rehabilitation center. When I was rehabbing, I wasn’t just going through my own experience, I was also going through other people’s experiences. People recovering from amputated limbs, people that were semi-paralyzed, people that lost their ability to speak, and some that were hooked up to breathing tubes for potentially the rest of their lives.
The reason this struck such a chord with me was that all I could think about was…
That could’ve been me.
If my brain hemorrhage was a bit bigger, or it was in a different part of my brain… I could have been in any of those situations. I felt so lucky to have survived a stroke and to still have the ability to speak, to move, and to think. Of course, I had my set of challenges, but I kept on thinking to myself, “I have an opportunity here. I can do something with this… this gift of a second chance. I’m lucky to still be here, to have learned what it’s like to struggle, and now I can take what I’ve learned and become an advocate… becoming a change-maker… helping others”
The Call to Action: Give a voice to those that don't have one
Some people that have a stroke, completely lose their ability to communicate, so they aren’t able to advocate for themselves. If I spread awareness about stroke, then I’m able to give a voice to those that don’t have one.
I’m very passionate about advocating for stroke treatment because it changed my life and so many can benefit from it. The challenge is that private therapies can be expensive. If we are able to make these therapies more accessible, the right treatments can get patients back to functioning quicker. I firmly believe that every person has the potential to recover and reach their version of “normal functioning”, but it requires more awareness and support.
My story is an example of what happens when you give people a voice. It gives people the chance to share something that can inspire others, like future stroke survivors that are at the beginning of their recovery journey. It lets people band together around a cause, like raising money and awareness for stroke (donate here to support the fundraiser I helped co-found: https://heartandstroke.crowdchange.ca/27966). Most importantly, it gives people a chance to speak up for underrepresented groups that otherwise wouldn’t be able to advocate for themselves, and in my case, it gives a voice to those who’ve lost the ability to speak.
Let’s Change the World
If you’re reading this right now… I want you to think about your voice.
What can you share with the world?
The thing is, I know that you have a unique story….
And more than ever, we need to hear stories like yours. The world needs to hear real stories, from real people… or as some call us “ordinary people”. We need stories with vulnerability and authenticity that cover difficult topics that need to be talked about.
Stories that spark conversations that lead to cultural shifts that collectively improve our lives. That helps us become more connected. That makes us feel more understood. That makes us smile. That makes us unite. That makes us question our biases. That makes us view the world in a new way. That makes us more empathetic.
That makes us…
Feel. More. Human.
The beauty of this platform is that it gives everybody a voice…
So… let’s change the world one story at a time.
If you are a person, you have a story.