New garden for stroke patients opens at Altnagelvin Hospital

Derry Journal

A new garden designed to help stroke patients recover has been unveiled at Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry.

Transcript

00:00Where do you see Anna? Where's the flyers?

00:12Anna just out.

00:14Mommy just look at me to know.

00:16To the camera.

00:18To you.

00:20My name is Koda Diloff and I'm a stroke survivor.

00:24Do you know what your story is?

00:26What happened to yourself?

00:28It was in April 2015.

00:30I had taken a brain stem stroke.

00:32And as a result developed lockdown syndrome.

00:34And spent seven and a half months in hospital.

00:38Trying to rehabilitate and recover from it.

00:42And how does Charlie help us?

00:50Initially I spent seven and a half weeks in the Royal Victoria Hospital in a ward.

00:57And hospital is very sterile by its nature.

01:01The rooms are white.

01:03And there's only medical equipment.

01:05And I think everybody knows the stereotypical set up.

01:08Where there's a chair and a bed.

01:10And when people visit you.

01:12It's not the most welcoming environment.

01:15And when you have a stroke.

01:17It's not something you recover from in a couple of days.

01:21So hospital stays are lengthy.

01:23And you're away from your safe place.

01:25You're away from home.

01:27So for me I was in a room that was unfamiliar.

01:32It wasn't home.

01:33And I miss my home environment so much.

01:37And I remember the very first time I was taken outside.

01:40After being in the hospital room.

01:42And I was taken into a garden in Musgrave Park Hospital.

01:46And just to feel the wind in your face.

01:49That breeze.

01:50To see the greenery.

01:52To see the world again.

01:54Suddenly it gives you hope that I would get discharged from the hospital.

01:58I would recover.

01:59And my life would begin again.

02:01How was it like seeing a stroke here today?

02:05I think it's so important for patients to have an outdoor space.

02:11Hospital is by its nature sterile.

02:14And I think it's so important to reconnect with the world.

02:18But nature in itself is so much to teach us when you have a health condition.

02:23I really love the seasons.

02:28They're so important for us to learn from.

02:30In the winter my perennials die.

02:33And they turn into a brown mosh in the garden.

02:36But spring comes.

02:38And they start to come alive again.

02:40And by the summer there's glorious colours in greenery.

02:44And I think that touches us.

02:46When we think that life is awful.

02:49It's a bit rubbish.

02:50And how is it ever going to get better.

02:52That with patience and care.

02:55That we too can be like those flowers.

02:57The perennials.

02:58That will flourish.

02:59And will blossom.

03:00And will thrive again.

03:02So we're actually planting one of my favourites.

03:09A pelargonium.

03:10I absolutely love them.

03:11They have a wonderful smell.

03:13And then we have some just summer annuals.

03:17So we have marigolds and verbenum.

03:20And it's really.

03:21They'll just give colour.

03:23And I think there's something I tell my best friend.

03:27Who loves the garden.

03:28She loves the inner instant gratification of the colour and the flowers.

03:32But I think we all do.

03:34So it's a wonderful space just to come in.

03:36And see the colour.

03:37And see the flowers.

03:38And really connect with the outside world again.

03:42I'm Alistair O'Hara.

03:43And I'm the Northern Ireland Director of the Stroke Association.

03:58So we've been partnering with the Western Trust to put in place a space for stroke survivors.

04:05To have a bit of time outdoors to reflect.

04:08To think about those next steps ahead.

04:10And to catch up with their loved ones.

04:12Within the ward as well.

04:13We put in some information about accessing our services.

04:18And about other stroke survivors further on in their journey.

04:22So we're really hopeful.

04:23But it will allow stroke survivors to think about that often daunting.

04:27journey ahead.

04:29And plan the next steps.

04:31What was it like seeing them all out here?

04:33The kind of conversation?

04:35It's fantastic.

04:36I hope you'll agree.

04:37It's a really beautiful relaxing space.

04:39And right next door to the ward as well.

04:42So hopefully it will give everyone that bit of peace that they need sometimes.

04:45How can gardening help someone who's had a stroke?

04:53Or help them mentally or physically?

04:55Well we know that being outdoors can be really important for your emotional health and wellbeing.

05:01And obviously many stroke survivors tell us that gardening is an important part of their rehabilitation as well.

05:07So we hope that this garden might provide a bit of inspiration for some people as they take those next steps.

05:13We're going to throw it on here.

05:15And there.

05:17Back to here.

05:19You're going to have to do it to here.

05:21Yes.

05:22And we bring it on then.

05:24And to here.

05:25Touches.

05:26쪽

05:27elo

05:29eye

05:31э

05:32eye

05:35eye

05:37eye

05:43眼

05:45eye

05:47eye

05:49eye

05:50eye

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended