Wagga Base Hospital’s Acute Stroke Unit, which was named one of the best in the state last year, has celebrated its 10th birthday.
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Former stroke patient Marshal Shaji Jurian, who was treated at the unit last year, recalled the day he had his stroke.
“I'm very lucky, because I work as a nurse here and I had a stroke while I was at work here on night shift, so if I wasn't working that day I would have been asleep and it would've been a whole different outcome,” he said.
“I felt weakness on my left side and my words were coming out very slow, and because I've worked here before I thought to myself ‘maybe I'm having a stroke’, but it didn't really click.”
Mr Shaji Jurian said the care of the unit’s doctors and nurses had him back to his normal self within just 24 hours.
“I'm extremely grateful that there's a fantastic team here and they're all working towards betterment of people affected with strokes,” he said.
Philip Cross, whose wife Meryl had a stroke in 2009, also spoke to the care with which the unit treats its patients and their families.
“Meryl had open heart surgery in Sydney in 2009, and three days after she came home she had a stroke and it paralysed her whole left side,” Mr Cross said.
“I bring my wife up here regularly to use the exercise bike for her rehabilitation, and the staff are all very professional and really easy to get on with.
“The results they're driving are excellent, and I think they should be proud of that.”
Director of the Acute Stroke Unit Dr Martin Jude said he was proud of his whole team for making Wagga’s stroke unit one of the best in the state.
“It's all about our staff – we have staff who started in the stroke unit more than 10 years ago who are still here and have become Australian experts in their field,” Dr Jude said.
“In NSW, if you want early access to rehabilitation, then the best place for that is Wagga, and if you want to get clot busting therapy in time, Wagga's also one of the best places.”
The unit has already treated more than 3000 patients in its first ten years.