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09 December 2021

In December, Craig Pankhurst, founder of 'A Stroke of Luck' charity delivered the latest Nicholls Lecture to Sixth Form students.

By Holly Hall, Lower Sixth Student

On Friday 3rd December, Craig Pankhurst, stroke survivor and founder of A Stroke of Luck charity, delivered a Nicholls lecture based on his story as a stroke survivor.

By giving us insight into his career as a professional swimmer, to an injury that ruined his Olympic dreams, we learnt about how he overcame his disappointment, leading him to a career in business.

During this time, Craig Pankhurst worked with Liverpool Football Club, before on the 28th of April, age 39, when he suffered from a stroke, causing his life to change forever. The cause of his stroke, stress, was due to factors such as his high pressure lifestyle. Unlike many stroke survivors, who can often be faced with a life of little mobility and depression, Craig took advantage of his situation, leaving his business to establish the charity, A Stroke of Luck.

The charity aims to support stroke survivors, creating a network and community for support as well as building an ‘A team’, a group of family, friends, and charities for each survivor. Furthermore, he created a traffic light system, to inform others of high stress situations which pose possible risk to a stroke survivor.

The charity now uses social media to connect to others who have face similar challenges around the world, providing information guided from experts, as well as merchandise to promote stroke awareness.

Following the lecture, students had questions for Craig, and we continued our discussion on the neural physio effects of a stroke. I would like to extend my thanks on behalf of the entire Sixth Form for an incredibly engaging lecture.