Stroke: A 5% Chance Of Survival

by Ricky Monahan Brown

The day after losing his job, Ricky suffered a catastrophic haemorrhagic stroke aged just 38. The unconscious Ricky was wheeled into Brooklyn's Methodist Hospital with girlfriend Beth by his side and a 5% chance of survival. This is the story of his struggle to return to love, fatherhood and the home of his youth.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

213 pages, Paperback

First published January 22, 2019

About the author

Ricky Monahan Brown suffered a massive haemorrhagic stroke in 2012. Doctors gave him a one-in-twenty chance of a good outcome, where a 'good outcome' would be surviving in a non-vegetative, non-plegic state. The resulting survival memoir, Stroke: A 5% chance of survival, became one of The Scotsman’s Scottish Nonfiction Books of 2019.

Ricky’s short fiction has been widely published, including in 404 Ink literary magazine and most recently by Lemon Peel Press and Soor Ploom Press. Little Apples will be published in 2022 as part of Leamington Books’ Novella Express series. The live literature and music series he co-founded, Interrobang?! won the Saboteur Award for the Best Regular Spoken Word Night in Britain for 2017.

A stroke awareness ambassador for the British Heart Foundation, Ricky lives in Edinburgh with his wife and their son.

Reviews

[Rebecca]

I read the first 104 pages. Brown, a Scot in New York City, suffered a hemorrhagic stroke the day after he was let go from his job in 2012, at age 38. That I read almost half of the book happily enough is testament to the breezy style and accessible details. The author has done an impressive job of recreating his hospital stays and paying tribute to his girlfriend Beth’s loyalty. But I’m pretty oversaturated with medical memoirs, and despite the quirky ordinary-Joe writing (“Like all the best boy meets girl, they fall in love, boy suffers catastrophic brain injury stories, this one started on a normal day”), this one doesn’t stand out in particular.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Losing his job as a financial lawyer was pretty grim that day, but he was trying to make the best of it. They had taken his daughter from a previous relationship to the New York Hall of Science where they had participated in some of the high school’s projects that were on display. Beth and he dropped her off home and went for a couple of beers and a few games of pool, before grabbing a pizza and heading home. It was while in bed that he began to feel a little weird down his left-hand side. He decided to lie quietly for a little while, saying, ‘Don’t worry, Everything is going to be fine.’

That was the last thing he said before losing consciousness.

Beth called him an ambulance and he was rushed to Brooklyn’s New York Methodist Hospital. It took eight minutes to get him there. He was swiftly diagnosed with a haemorrhagic stroke, an intracerebral bleed that only lasts 10 seconds or less. The surgeon reckoned that he had a 5% chance of having a ‘good outcome’ and that would be surviving in a non-vegetative state and free from paralysis. When tested he had a grade five on the Hunt and Hess scale and it really didn’t look good. Beth was worrying herself to death and refused to go home. She curled up in a chair in the waiting room and tried to get some sleep. She didn’t know if she would see Ricky alive again.

Ricky did survive and began the long slow and occasionally traumatic process of recovery. This book is that story.

There is no such thing as life, yet it can blink out in an instant.

The first thing to say about this book is it is a miracle that he is even here at all to have been able to write the book in the first place, let alone having staged a good enough recovery to get back to something resembling a normal life now in Scotland. It is a book very much about him and all the trials and tribulations of his medical attention as well as his partner, Beth and her commitment to seeing his recovery through to the end. It is not too badly written either and doesn’t get too bogged down in lots of medical jargon, though that is present to a certain extent. But that might be too much for some people.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having worked for many years in the UK NHS, and for some of that time on a stroke therapy team, I was fascinated by Ricky’s account of his post stroke experiences in the New York healthcare system. It was a privilege to share in his journey of recovery and the characters he met along the way, from his challenging roommates to the array of colourful therapists who supported him. Overarching all this is the courage, absolute commitment, and love of his partner Beth. It struck me that they hadn’t been together all that long and she could easily have been committing herself to a permanently severely disabled partner, but she stuck by him regardless. The author does digress into less interesting areas at times, but despite this I found it a good read.

[Jane Riordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In terms of catching one's attention this book starts well, with the first chapter entitled: 'You Had An Orgasm, I Had A Stroke'.

The author had a stroke at the age of 38 and this book is the tale of his recovery and rehabilitation, a Scotsman, who had been living in New York and his well informed, detailed and humorous take on his long journey towards something of the man he used to be.

Whilst I enjoyed the book I did, at times, find the detail a little hard to take in and I am embarrassed to say that I found myself scanning over some of it but I am sure that, were the reader a stroke survivor themselves or closely related to one, they would find this information really interesting and helpful.

I don't think this is a 'keeper' for me, my bookshelves don't have room for anything which I don't think I am likely to read a number of times or which really, really struck a chord, but I definitely enjoyed the read.

[Liz Moffat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ricky Monaghan Brown, a Scotsman living and working as a lawyer in New York suffered a stroke at the age of 38. This is his and Beth’s story and is an inspirational one for those who have had strokes or who have cared for someone with a stroke. For me it is also a huge thank you to the many health professionals who are involved in rehabilitation and the importance of the work they do along with their strong willed and determined patients.

[Melanie Reeves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read! Witty humor and a true love story found in an unfortunate situation. Kept me wanting more. Hope there is more to come from this author.