Antonio's Story
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Writing about the most vulnerable time of your life is something that most people would avoid at all costs. But for Antonio Iannella, who survived a massive stroke when he was only 38 years old, writing about his experience has been instrumental in his recovery.
Antonio, who lives in Australia, was in Vietnam on a family holiday when he had a stroke. They were visiting the Củ Chi tunnels, just outside of Saigon, when Antonio started feeling strange.
"I felt some tingling on my palms and rumbling in my ears," he recalls.
He began feeling weak and disorientated, and his family noticed something was wrong. Unable to move, he had to be dragged back to the bus, which then rushed him to a clinic in Saigon. His children's mother correctly identified that Antonio was having a stroke, but due to the language barrier, the staff couldn't understand what she was saying.
Antonio ended up being transferred to hospital, where an MRI revealed he had experienced a haemorrhagic stroke in his brainstem. Strokes in the brainstem are often fatal. Subsequent testing revealed that Antonio's stroke was due to an arteriovenous malformation (AVM), which is where blood vessels in the brain don't form correctly. AVMs have a high risk of rupture and bleeding, which can then cause a stroke. It is likely that Antonio was born with his AVM.
Antonio was in the Vietnamese Hospital for close to two weeks. Eventually, he was stable enough for a rescue flight home to Australia. Once he landed, he was taken straight to Melbourne Hospital, where he stayed for three months.
Antonio's lifelong love for music was instrumental in his recovery, as was being surrounded by the "incredible strength of human kindness" - both from loved ones and strangers.
"I did make a pretty good recovery considering where I was at: completely paralysed and couldn't speak," Antonio says.
While he has ongoing reminders of his stroke, he knew that an attitude shift would help him adjust to his new normal.
"I still have disabilities," he says. "But I'm going to change my mindset and flip the narrative. And rather than focus on focusing on what I lost, let's focus on what I can do."
Antonio became involved in the stroke community and started sharing his story with others. While it was a great way to connect with people, it also meant that he started regularly hearing common misconceptions around stroke.
"I just wanted to debunk all that and enable people to get a better understanding," Antonio says. "And not only that, I wanted to provided hope for stroke survivors."
Antonio knew that his creative muscles were the perfect way to challenge those ideas. A musician his whole life, writing came easily to Antonio. His book, "Saigon Siren", details his experience with stroke, the ups and downs of recovery, and the healing power of creativity. As well as challenging ideas around stroke, he also hopes his book will bring awareness to stroke and provide hope for other stroke survivors.
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You can read more about Antonio and buy his book here: https://antonioiannella.com.au/saigonsiren