{"id":423513,"date":"2026-02-13T11:48:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T11:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/423513\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T11:48:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T11:48:12","slug":"stroke-survivor-who-suffered-one-rare-symptom-warns-others-over-uncommon-signs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/423513\/","title":{"rendered":"Stroke survivor who suffered one rare symptom warns others over uncommon signs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gordon Robb, 63, discovered he had suffered a haemorrhagic stroke after finding written words looked like a foreign language \u2013 an uncommon symptom affecting fewer than 1% of patients at onset \u2013 and is now backing a major trial to prevent future strokes.Ella Pickover, Press Association Health Correspondent and Gemma Ryder<\/a> Reporter<\/p>\n

04:30, 13 Feb 2026<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Gordon Robb, from Bonnyrigg in Midlothian, who is warning others to watch out for unusual symptoms after joining a study funded by the British Heart Foundation.(Image: PA)<\/p>\n

A stroke survivor<\/a> whose only symptom was being unable to read has urged people to look out for uncommon signs of the potentially deadly condition.<\/p>\n

Gordon Robb had a bleed on his brain but was reluctant to seek emergency care after not experiencing the usual symptoms<\/a> of the condition, including facial weakness, arm weakness or speech problems.<\/p>\n

Instead, the 63-year-old found that words \u2013 including emails, texts about the Ryder Cup <\/a>and the screen of a cash point \u2013 looked as though they were written in a foreign language.<\/p>\n

He had decided to make GP appointment, but a cousin insisted on an A&E visit<\/a> where it emerged that he had a haemorrhagic stroke.<\/p>\n

Experts said that difficulty recognising written words on its own, without any other symptoms, affects fewer than 1% of people at the time of their stroke.<\/p>\n

Now Mr Robb, a former vice-president of a biotech company, is taking part in a new British Heart Foundation-funded clinical trial led by academics at the University of Edinburgh in a bid to avoid future strokes.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Gordon only discovered his stroke had happened after his cousin, whose husband had died from a stroke a few weeks earlier, insisted he go to hospital.(Image: PA)<\/p>\n

Researchers are examining if clopidogrel or aspirin, which are drugs that reduce the risk of blood clotting, can prevent future strokes, heart attacks and premature deaths in people who have had a haemorrhagic stroke.<\/p>\n

Mr Robb, from Bonnyrigg in Midlothian, Scotland, is taking the clopidogrel as part of the trial. The keen cyclist and runner had his stroke in September last year.<\/p>\n

His symptoms are improving, though it now takes longer to read compared to before his stroke, and he occasionally cannot find the right word during a conversation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am incredibly lucky, and quite honestly felt like a fraud in the stroke ward because I was no different to how I am normally, except that I suddenly could not read words,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Gordon is part of a clinical trial run by researchers at the University of Edinburgh. (Image: PA)<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew some of the classic signs of a stroke like facial weakness, being unable to raise my arms or speech issues, but had none of these.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just shows the importance of paying attention to unusual symptoms, even if they aren\u2019t ones you have heard of before.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I hadn\u2019t gone to the hospital, and quickly received treatment, I could have been walking around with a ticking time-bomb in my head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recalling his stroke, he said: \u201cI was in the garden, went in to have a cup of tea, listen to some music and check my emails on my phone \u2013 and it was like they were in a foreign language.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could see them clearly, and see who they were from, but the words meant nothing to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just assumed I was tired because I had been up late the night before.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen friends were then messaging me about the Ryder Cup that evening and I couldn\u2019t see the messages, I just gave myself an early night.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The next day after he could not read the instructions on a cash machine he resolved to see his GP.<\/p>\n

But his cousin, whose husband had died from a sudden stroke just three weeks earlier \u2013 drove straight to his house and insisted on taking him to A&E. It was there he discovered he had a haemorrhagic stroke.<\/p>\n

While in hospital he signed up to the new trial, led by Professor Rustam Al-Shahi Salman at the University of Edinburgh.<\/p>\n

Professor Salman said: \u201cIt has been hard to overcome the instinctive fear that if people have had a haemorrhagic stroke, taking aspirin or a drug like it might cause more bleeding.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we were very relieved when our research showed such drugs to be safe after a haemorrhagic stroke.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Aspiring study will gather further evidence to establish if aspirin and clopidogrel can help lower the risk of future strokes and heart attacks, and potentially save the lives of people like Gordon who have had a haemorrhagic stroke.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe there is a huge amount more to be done to help these people, whose lives have been turned upside down and who may be concerned about the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Gordon(Image: PA)<\/p>\n

Mr Robb said: said: \u201cBeing involved in this trial provides some reassurance, that this drug may reduce my risk of another stroke.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it is also great to know that being involved could help improve treatment for people like me in the future, and relieve the pressure on the health system.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel extremely lucky that I did not have more long-term effects from my stroke, and that I have had the chance to try to help improve treatments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, the British Heart Foundation\u2019s clinical director, added: \u201cFacial weakness, arm or leg weakness and speech problems are well-known signs you or your loved one may be having a stroke, but there are some lesser-known symptoms like being unable to recognise the written word.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have a symptom that you feel is not right, however strange or unusual, it is really important to seek help. Every minute matters if you may be having a stroke or other medical emergency.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know stroke survivors often fear having another stroke and how disabling this could be. That is why the BHF is funding clinical trials like Aspiring, which will test whether prescribing antiplatelet drugs could protect more people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gordon Robb, 63, discovered he had suffered a haemorrhagic stroke after finding written words looked like a foreign…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423514,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[59,102,3780,2751,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-423513","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-nhs-scotland","11":"tag-stroke","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}