ROS Jack was just 37 when she suffered a life-changing stroke.
The married mother-of-one, from Morningside in Edinburgh, was getting ready to leave the house with her son Simon, then just three and a half, when she suddenly felt ill.
"I had never smoked, didn't drink very much and had always considered myself to be quite healthy," said Ros, now 59. "I thought strokes happened to old people, but I've since discovered you can have a stroke at any age.
"It was 2.30pm in the afternoon and I was getting ready to take my son out, but when I bent down to tie his shoelaces I had a very strange sensation in my head.
READ MORE: Postcode lottery in stroke care as audit highlights 'considerable variation' between health boards
"I remember thinking 'this doesn't feel right', like I was about to faint or was getting that sudden rush of blood to the head. But it quickly became quite apparent that that wasn't the case.
"I had actually collapsed on the floor at my son's feet and I remember thinking 'I need to get help'."
After crawling to the phone she called her friend who, on arriving, called Ros's GP practice.
However, it was 6pm before the doctor arrived and when he phoned for an ambulance, the case was not logged as a priority. Ros finally arrived at hospital at 9pm but it was another 45 minutes before she was even referred for a brain scan.
READ MORE: Postcode lottery in stroke care as audit highlights 'considerable variation' between health boards
Ros was left partially sighted, with no peripheral vision on her left side, and weakness down her left side which makes simple tasks like buttoning a coat or carrying bags impossible.
She has never been able to return to work as a PA.
That was 22 years ago and today the importance of treating strokes quickly is better known - but still falling short of targets.
READ MORE: Postcode lottery in stroke care as audit highlights 'considerable variation' between health boards
"I still know people in some areas that aren't getting the brain scans or the swallow tests on time and it's so important."
"You learn to adapt but with stroke, because it happens so suddenly - one minute you are able-bodied and then 'at a stroke', your life changes forever.
"I'm one of the lucky ones though. I lot of people end up in a wheelchair or terribly disabled."
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