Online exclusive
Men’s Health Week starts tomorrow and runs until Sunday, June 16, to focus on getting men to take better care of their health. Strokes are one of the leading causes of death and disability in men. Here, political commentator and general manager of Waatea News Matthew Tukaki describes the life-changing impact of surviving a stroke.
A year before I almost died, I had problems breathing. I was overweight and knew that high blood pressure ran in the family. It took me a while to go to the GP - when Māori go to the doctor or hospital, we normally go out in a gurney, or a box. My dad died of an aneurysm at 46.
Over the next six months, I lost nearly 43kg. If you tell me to do something and set a target, I’ll figure out how to get there. I got rid of sugary drinks and stuff like that, all the things that we’re all told are wrong. I started off with 10 minutes of walking, which went to 10,000 steps, which went to 15,000 and that went to 20,000.
I stopped taking the blood pressure medication. I thought I’d done enough because I’d lost weight, and my blood pressure and cholesterol were down.
In March 2023, I was in Sydney. There was a lot of pressure in the previous years, doing a review of Oranga Tamariki for the government. That was tough. I was constantly worried about a kid dying. There was also the pandemic. It was a brutal time.
I’d just finished a Teams meeting and knew something was wrong because the words were jumping all over the screen. I was getting dizzy, and I couldn’t make sense of what was going on. To be honest, I was out on the piss the night before with friends who I hadn’t seen in many years, so I thought this was just the remnants of last night’s good time.
I felt really cold. I rang a friend who rang the ambulance. I don’t remember anything else until I woke up in hospital.
It turned out I had an aortic dissection, an aneurysm and a cerebellum stroke. One of those alone is apparently not survivable. They drained the fluid from my brain - there was a pipe coming out the front and one out the back. It was hugely uncomfortable. There are massive scars. I was so bad in the ICU that I requested to be given the last rites.
The doctors made it very clear that I was unlikely to survive. My mum, partner and little brother flew to Australia to see me. They didn’t come over to take me home to New Zealand - they came to take me home in a bag.
I spent a month in hospital before I was medevaced to Wellington. I was so bad when I got there, they had me in the palliative care ward. Hey, I got some rosary beads out of it! Then I spent a month in Hutt Hospital, where I began rehabilitation.
I had to learn to walk again. My right hand was kind of working okay but I had lost movement and control over the entire left-hand side of my body. That was freaky. I also lost my voice. I had to learn to talk again. I used to say, if I start slurring my words, don’t think I’m a day drinker.
I started walking small distances. Then I wanted to re-learn how to wash and shower myself. If I was going to make it home, it had to be up to me to do these things. By the time I’d spent a month in the hospital, I could walk down to the cafe and get a coffee - but I still had to use a Zimmer frame. Let me tell you, for somebody my age, that wasn’t a good thing.
Getting back to work was my goal, as my job was not going to keep paying me sick leave and I didn’t qualify for income support or ACC. Any savings we had were running out pretty bloody quickly.
When I got home to Auckland, I knew if I didn’t start moving as quickly as possible, the chances were I’d be stuck in a horrible disabled reality for a long time. I knew, if it’s got to be, it was up to me and I couldn’t rely on the system.
I didn’t qualify for home help, so I turned housework into rehab - hanging washing out, stacking the dishwasher, putting washing in the washing machine and weeding the garden. I even started building with Lego to work on my fine motor skills.
I went back to work in November last year. Recovery can take years and I appear to have done it in less than a year. It was sheer determination - you’ve got to be the one who gets going. Even though friends and family try to help, they stop coming around. They’ve got their own lives to be getting on with.
These days, I call myself a survivor. I’m moving towards becoming an advocate - I want men to live longer lives. My advice to Māori men is to get yourself checked. Everything that happened to me was highly preventable. And don’t believe everything you read on Google. Just because you’ve lost 43kg doesn’t mean you can stop taking your blood pressure medication.
About strokes:
According to Stroke Foundation New Zealand, strokes are this country’s second-biggest killer, as well as a leading cause of serious adult disability. More than 9500 are experienced every year - that equates to one every 55 minutes - and 25-30% are experienced by people under 65.
The foundation also states that around 75% of strokes are preventable, if recommended “risk reduction strategies” are taken. These strategies to manage your risk include:
Maintain healthy blood pressure: High blood pressure is the leading cause of strokes. Regular monitoring and lifestyle changes (like diet and exercise) or medication can help control it.
Manage cholesterol levels: High cholesterol can lead to plaque buildup in arteries, increasing stroke risk. A healthy diet low in saturated and trans fats, along with medication if needed, can help.
Quit smoking: Smoking damages blood vessels and increases the likelihood of blood clots. Quitting significantly reduces stroke risk.
Control blood sugar: Diabetes increases stroke risk. If you have diabetes, managing your blood sugar levels through diet, exercise, and medication is crucial.
Regular exercise: Regular physical activity helps control weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol.
Matthew Tukaki is a political commentator and general manager of Waatea News. He is the chair of the National Māori Authority and was the chair of the Ministerial Advisory Board for Oranga Tamariki. He was also the director for the Office of Suicide Prevention.
