A FORMER school teacher from Co Armagh has told of how he can no longer read or write after suffering a stroke.
Paul McLean (43), originally from west Belfast, was an English teacher at Brownlow Integrated College, Craigavon, before he became ill in 2016.
Aged just 40 at the time, he was at home with his wife Suzanne when he suffered the devastating stroke, leaving him unable to speak.
Three years on, forced to give up his job and readjust to life away from teaching, he has recently starred in a new television advertisement to show "what it's really like to have and live with a stroke".
It is part of the Stroke Association's Rebuilding Lives campaign, which aims to show the challenges faced by stroke survivors and those who support them with their recoveries.
Recalling the moment he took ill, Mr McLean, who lives in Magheralin, said: "I was going to show my wife Suzi something on my phone but I couldn't move my right-hand side.
"She looked at me and said, 'what's wrong with your face?'.
"At first, she thought I was joking around."
Spotting the signs of a stroke she remembered the FAST test, asking him to smile and raise his arms, before calling an ambulance.
Following a brain scan at hospital, doctors thought he would benefit from a procedure called thrombectomy, which involves inserting a small tool into the brain to remove the blood clot, which caused the stroke.
Medics gave him a 10 per cent chance of surviving the operation.
He received the treatment and pulled through, however, he said his life has changed significantly.
"I remember having a conversation in my head with myself," he said.
"A list of things I'd do afterwards - lose weight, get fit, get better, do things, change my life, change my habits. And that's pretty much what I've followed since.
"My job before was as an English teacher. But now I can't read or write, so my job is to help other stroke survivors.
"I work with stroke survivor groups and talk to people about how to find hope in the little bits and pieces."
Mr McLean said he saw "fantastic progress" with his speech after using the Stroke Association's communication support service. He is now among six stroke survivors to appear in the charity's new advert.
"Being on TV doesn't bother me at all. I've never been afraid to tell people what happened to me," he said.
"I just really want to help get the message out there.
"I was someone who went from reading a book in a day to, can't now read a book in a year.
"If me going on TV helps one person to either, never have the experience of stroke or help someone after a stroke, then job done."
