Damien Afxentis is alive and perfectly well today, thanks to the quick thinking of his colleague Juliana Salerno!

It was a typical working day at Major Road Projects Victoria, and Damien was chairing a meeting on Teams while working from home. When he started to feel a bit odd, he handed over chairing to someone else but didn’t think too much of it.

When Damien’s speech became slurred and he began to look distressed, Juliana (working from a different location) called an ambulance and had it sent to Damien’s home. With amazing resourcefulness, she called Damien on another mobile, and enabled the ambulance team to communicate with him and triage his condition while on their way to his home.

Now nine months later Damien has made a full return to work. He’s heeded this warning – ‘it gave me a big fright’ – and is now focused on living in a more healthy and balanced way.

Would you recognise the signs of a possible stroke? Would you – like Juliana – be willing to take immediate action, even though some of your colleagues might think you were overreacting?

The Stroke Foundation recommends the FAST test as an easy way to remember the most common signs of stroke. Ask these simple questions:

• Face Check their face. Has their mouth drooped?
• Arms Can they lift both arms?
• Speech Is their speech slurred? Do they understand you?
• Time Is critical. If you see any of these signs call 000 straight away.

Act immediately. The longer a stroke remains untreated, the greater the chance of stroke-related brain damage. Find out more on the Stroke Foundation website

Go Fearlessly – Corrinne

PS There is an important subtext here too – ALWAYS have your camera on when in an online meeting. With his camera off, Damien’s story might have had a very different outcome!

PPS Damien is a past client. He and Julia were happy for me to share this story in the hope that it will help others.