A 25-YEAR-OLD stroke survivor is adding her voice to a national campaign to raise awareness of complications that can be caused.

Ellis Elliot, who lives in Cowley, is one of the thousands of people nationwide living with communication difficulties after a stroke.

The former project manager at a research council was undergoing open heart surgery in April because she was born with a congenital heart defect and has two replacement heart valves, when she suffered a stroke.

This left her with partial paralysis in her right arm and a communication difficulty called aphasia, which affects the production or understanding of speech.

She said: "After my stroke, I was lucky to have my mum by my side at all times, but it has still been a struggle.

"I couldn't use my hand to write anymore, and just saying ‘hello’ was stressful.

"I feel like I am improving each and every day, though.

"I still get frustrated that I struggle to do simple things that we take for granted, like calling a friend or being able to having a spontaneous conversation without having to pause to think about your words.

"I want to raise as much awareness about stroke so that more people can understand what aphasia is."

To help Miss Elliot regain her speech and language skills, she underwent eight weeks of stroke therapy.

She is now having singing lessons to help with her fluency and counselling sessions to help her with the emotional side of the stroke.

Support manager at the Stroke Association, Suzy Imeson, said: “After a stroke, about one-in-three people like Ellis have difficulty communicating, which can be both terrifying and isolating.

"But with the right help and support, many stroke survivors are able to find new ways to communicate, and can rebuild their lives."

Although strokes are more commonly associated with older people, anyone can be affected at any time.

One in four strokes in the UK happen to people of working age.

More than 350,000 people in the UK have aphasia.

The Stroke Association is urging people to show their support for stroke survivors, by getting involved with its campaign 'Lost for Words' and making a donation.

For more information visit stroke.org.uk/lostforwords.