Stroke patient back in the saddle again

A Swansea man has set his sights on completing the annual Jiffy’s Cancer 50 Challenge less than a year after suffering a major stroke.

Warren Smart, who had a stroke last September, hopes to celebrate his remarkable recovery by cycling 50 miles from the Cardiff City Stadium to the Lighthouse restaurant in Swansea’s Bracelet Bay on Sunday, August 17th

Spearheaded by former rugby star Jonathan “Jiffy” Davies, the annual event has raised many thousands of pounds for the cancer centres at Velindre and Singleton hospitals since its launch in 2022.

Although Warren, aged 58, from Three Crosses, may not feature on the leader board, simply entering the race is a huge accomplishment as he had to learn to walk again after losing the use of the right side of his body following the stroke.

Warren said: “The consultant said I would never make a 100% recovery. He said, ‘You will recover, but you will never be the same again.”

Warren was a keen cyclist and was supposed to go on a ride just before his illness hit.

He said: “I was supposed to meet up with some friends for a bike ride but I had to call them to say I had vertigo and couldn’t go.

“The next day I checked my blood pressure and it was very high. I was directed to Morriston Hospital and they confirmed I’d had a stroke.

“It was quite minor at that time but I then had what they call a decompensation event on 15 September and I was more or less paralysed down my right side. I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t feed myself. I couldn’t move my right arm or leg at all.”

The news came out of the blue as Warren had always tried to keep himself fit and healthy.

He said: “It came as a complete and utter shock. There are other people who have unhealthy lifestyles compared to mine, but I was the one who had a stroke.

“They said it was probably due to lifting heavy objects. I’d lifted a piano with my son the weekend before the stroke, and I’d also helped to lift PA equipment. My shoulders and neck were really painful afterwards.

“They think a blood clot may have been dislodged and gone into the brain.”

Warren puts much of his recovery down to the help and support of Singleton Hospital’s Neuro Outpatient Physiotherapy department.

He said: “I spent a little bit of time in Morriston Hospital but I couldn’t wait to get out of there. The staff were lovely but wanted to go home

“I was given appointments with the neuro outpatient physiotherapy department in Singleton. They were really good. 

“I had to be taught how to walk again. I used to stand on the side of my right foot and swing it in front of me. I couldn’t go very far. I couldn’t go up the slightest of hills. I couldn’t walk on a pavement with a camber on it. I’d think I was falling. I had to go on the road when the pavements weren’t flat.

“It took around three months before I could begin to walk properly again.”

Warren was given a routine of exercises to do in the department’s gymnasium and pool, which he was later able to take with him to a public gym.

He said: “I now do the exercises in the gym or go in the sea. I’ve also started doing yoga in my local village. Yoga is brilliant.”

In March of this year Warren completed a seven mile walk along Swansea Bay, which was the goal set at the start of the physiotherapy sessions

I said: “I parked the car by the Dylan Thomas Theatre and walked down along the seafront stopping every two miles or so until I reached Mumbles Pier.”

But now his thoughts turn to the bike ride.

He said: “I’ve done the distance before the stroke. I did the Cardiff to Tenby bike ride in 2024, which is around 107 miles. It was really difficult but I did the training for that.

“So, I know I can do it but I don’t know how long it will take me to do it.

“I don’t know yet if I will be able to ride up the hill near Culverhouse Cross because it’s a steep hill.

“If I can ride up it, great. If I can’t, I will push the bike up and ride the rest of it.”

If the going does get tough his thoughts will turn to a family member to spur him on.

He said: “It’s for a fantastic cause, close to my heart, as my father-in-law had prostate cancer. These days, because of the funding for research and cancer services, people live with cancer. He lived with it for 26 years.”

Warren also wanted to thank the physio staff who helped his recovery.

He said: “The staff in the physio department have been fantastic. It’s been a really good balance.

“What they’ve done with me is enable me to get on with life and not have another stroke, with a bit of luck. I’ve had rehabilitation, but I have also had advice and given up things like alcohol, caffeine and taking any salt. I’m trying to change my lifestyle to reduce the likelihood of having a repeat stroke.

“I think this facility is very much needed. It’s needed as much as the stroke ward. As much as you need the ward for people who have a stroke you need the physiotherapy department so people can recover and be proactive with no repeat episodes – I think that’s more cost effective. Every penny spent here is a penny well spent.”

And he has some advice for anyone starting out on a stroke recovery journey.

He said: “The stroke is all in your head. If there’s a good body, it hasn’t changed. It’s all in your mind. 

“You just have to work through it. Make yourself do things that you could do before. If you think about it, it is just a blood clot in your brain. Your legs and arms are the same – nothing there has changed. 

“They say that the brain is elastic and can find ways around where the blood clot is. The more you do the better. They had to tell me to take it easy as I tend to push myself as much as I can.”

Sally Jones, Physiotherapy Clinical Lead for Neurology, hailed Warren’s recovery as being inspirational.

She said: “The neuro outpatient physiotherapy team are delighted to have contributed so positively to Warren's stroke rehabilitation and his story highlights the importance of access to therapy support on discharge from hospital. 

“We are working on developing this aspect of the stroke service further. Warren has remained determined throughout the process, listening to advice and taking the lead in his own recovery. 

“His story really illustrates what can be gained with continued efforts and what an achievement - an inspiration that we can all take note of!”

https://swanseabayhealthcharity.enthuse.com/cf/jiffy-s-cancer-50-challenge-2025

* Main pic caption: (From left to right) Claire Davies, Specialist  Neurological Physiotherapist, Warren Smart, Todd Raddenbury, Physiotherapy Technician, and Sally Jones, Physiotherapy Clinical Lead for Neurology