Portsmouth teenager’s stroke left him struggling to speak – then he told his mum and dad ‘I love you’

A Portsmouth couple have told of their joy when their son spoke his first words after a devastating stroke aged just 15.

Finley Butcher had been eagerly looking forward to playing his first match for East Lodge Football Club in July this year but when mum Kelly went to wake him, she found him slumped behind his bedroom door, unable to move or communicate.

Finley was rushed to hospital but for days, he showed little sign of improvement until he slowly managed to put a few words together.

Kelly said: “We thought we were never going to hear his voice again. I can’t begin to tell you how I felt when he said: ‘I love you’.”

The family are sharing their story to raise awareness of stroke in young people and the support provided by the Stroke Association, the leading stroke support charity in the UK.

Also, on Sunday 21 December, Jake Woods, the fiancé of Finley’s sister Maisie, will be tackling the Portsmouth Coastal Waterside 50k Ultra Marathon to raise funds for the Stroke Association.

Kelly, 44, a family support worker with Portsmouth City Council, said their world was turned upside down when Finley became one of around 400 children who have a stroke every year in the UK. He still faces a long, hard road to recovery.

She said: “Finley is a really bright, well-mannered educated young man. He’s very sociable, always with his friends, and he was doing really well at school, about to start his final year. He’s a Liverpool fan and played football regularly. He was often out exploring at the beach or doing something sporty.

“He had been training over a year with East Lodge FC. By chance, the Sunday he had his stroke, 13 July, was supposed to be his first actual game.

“Like most teenagers, Finley liked to have a lie in. As I went to open his bedroom door, I could feel some resistance. I thought Finley was playing a practical joke. As I pushed the door, I could see his feet, and I realised that he’d collapsed.

“Finley was semi-conscious, unable to communicate, his eyes were rolling, and he couldn’t move at all. I shouted for my husband Mark to call 999 and they advised us to try to rouse him.

“Finley was unresponsive. His whole right side was completely paralysed. The ambulance crew thought he was showing signs of stroke and he was blue-lighted to the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth.”

Medics there consulted colleagues at University Hospital Southampton’s hyper acute stroke unit. A CT scan showed two clots in Finley’s brain, and thrombolysis - clot busting drugs which restore blood flow to the brain - was recommended.

Kelly said: “We were called into a conference call with consultants at Southampton. They explained the severity of Finley’s stroke. We had a window of 30 minutes to decide if we wanted Finley to have thrombolysis. They warned it could pose a risk, but Finley couldn’t talk or move unless we gave him that chance.

“Finley had thrombolysis and he was then blue-lighted to Southampton into paediatric intensive care.

“After a few days he started making improvements in his right arm and right leg.

“He couldn’t communicate at first but slowly managed to get little noises out. With the help of the speech therapists, he started to say certain words.

“We just didn’t know how Finley was feeling, what he understood, or even if he remembered what had happened. We thought we were never going to hear his voice again. I can’t begin to tell you how I felt when he said: ‘I love you’.”

Finley was moved to the paediatric high dependency unit where his speech therapy and occupational therapy continued once he was strong enough and he also had physiotherapy

He spent seven and a half weeks in hospital as he learned to speak, and how to do day-to-day tasks again, before leaving hospital after seven and a half weeks.

Kelly said: “When he came home, we were absolutely elated though it was also quite scary. There was some trepidation because you’re at home and not in that safe space at the hospital. There were day-to-day activities that he found difficult, and lots of adjustments were needed.

“He’s doing really, really well in terms of resilience and having a positive attitude. Not one day in this entire time did he not have a smile on his face.

“The stroke came out of nowhere. He remembers it happening and not being able to move and that’s quite scary for a young person.

“They have done every test, and they have no idea what caused it. He had two clots on his brain, and they didn’t know what caused them. It could just be one of those things, that he was unlucky.

“The use of his right side has completely returned. The strength is there. He‘s able to move around independently.

“Finley has been left with dysphasia and apraxia of speech - language disorders which make it hard to understand or express language, and difficulty saying what he wants to say correctly.

“People with this often know words but find it hard to find them when they need them. It’s as if the words are hidden somewhere in their minds.

“Someone might want to say ‘chair’ but say ‘sit’ instead.

“He needs to relearn how to do things in small steps with lots of repetition. You also can’t give Finley too many tasks he struggles to remember them. Finley has a magnificent support network of friends. We’re a very close family, and they’ve all been incredible, helping Finley get to where he is today.

“He’s up and he’s mobile. To look at, you would think he was the same as any other teenagers. It’s the memory, the speech and the fatigue.

“We hear ‘it can’t be a stroke, he’s too young’ a lot. Hardly any of his friends knew what a stroke was. Raising awareness of stroke in young people and how it affects them is really important as we've been through a very traumatic journey.

“We reached out online to the Stroke Association childhood stroke support service. They were fantastic. We were in a haze, we were numb. We didn’t know what to do next. You’re filled with lots of medical information, but you don’t know what that means practically. The team were able to guide us through.

“They were there with us on our journey, checking in with us and signposting us to the right place for different things.

“We’ve been able to get in contact with other parents whose children have had strokes too. It’s very lonely when something like this happens and having this practical and emotional support was imperative.

“He’s back at Mayfield Secondary School but, due to post-stroke fatigue, has had to reduce his hours as it’s too tiring. He does a couple of hours, and that really does wear him out.

“I sent the school information from the Stroke Association website on what to look out for. My concern is that they wouldn’t recognise another stroke. It wouldn’t be fair for me to expect them to know as they are so rare in children.

“Debbie from the Child Brain Injury Trust went in to explain how they could support Finley. Debbie has been phenomenal.

“Julie, one of the school’s family support workers, has been fantastic, making sure that she communicates with us, having a space for Finley to go when he needs to. The post-stroke fatigue means that two days aren’t the same for Finley.

“Year 11 is a really heavy year for students. He’s tried to do a couple of mock exams in English and Maths he’s concentrating on those two key subjects as his memory won’t allow for any more as trying to retain lots of information would be hard for him.”

Kelly said the family are hugely grateful to the medics at both the Queen Alexandra and the University Hospital.

She added: “I’ve got nothing but praise for QA. “We wouldn’t have had the boy we have now if they hadn’t reached out to Southampton. I can’t sing the praises of everyone at East Lodge FC enough, either as their managers have gone above and beyond keeping Finley involved.

“They have said that he’ll always be part of the team even though he may never play a game. He’s able to attend training sessions but not allowed to be involved in contact as the risk is too high. He likes to go and dribble the ball around. Just being involved is paramount to him and his well-being.”

The family will be cheering for Jake Woods, who is engaged to Finley’s sister Maisie, as he takes on his first ever ultra marathon along the shores of Langstone Harbour this weekend.

Jake, a 22-year-old quantity surveyor who lives in Waterlooville, said the challenge would be “a shock to the system” but he was inspired by Finley.

“I’m running to raise awareness as my little brother-in-law had a stroke and is currently going through rehab, but it doesn’t just affect them, it’s a chain reaction to the whole family,” said Jake. “So, I’m raising money and awareness to support other families and people who go through this.”

To sponsor Jake visit https://www.justgiving.com/page/jacob-woods-2

More information on the Stroke Association’s childhood stroke support team can be found at www.stroke.org.uk