Life After My Mother’s Stroke: A Teenage Take on How to Cope

Tashi Hansen du Toit was 15 years old when her mother, Karen, suffered a severe haemorrhagic stroke which left her with multiple physical and cognitive impairments. This beautifully written and poignant account tells Tashi’s story from the first moments after her mother’s stroke, following her and her family through the experience of her mother’s hospitalisation and rehabilitation. Tashi offers a rare glimpse into the impact of her mother’s stroke on her family and on her life as a teenager as she juggles the stresses and demands of family, school, and friends alongside coping with her mother’s brain injury. As she describes how she is learning to cope with her unresolved grief three years on, she provides hope, perspective, and insight on how to work towards growth and acceptance despite the catastrophe of a parent’s stroke.

Presenting the rarely heard adolescent perspective on parental brain injury, Tashi’s moving story also features Karen’s account as she comes to terms with her experience. This authentic book offers great support to others, particularly teenagers, who may be going through a similar experience. It is also valuable reading for those working in brain injury services and the education system, and for any professional or student involved in neurorehabilitation or supporting families of parents with brain injury.

Tashi Hansen du Toit is the daughter of Karen Hansen and Pieter du Toit. In 2018, while Tashi was completing her GCSE exams, her mother had a stroke. After completing her A-levels in 2021, Tashi is taking a gap year.

Pieter du Toit is the father of Tashi Hansen du Toit and husband of Karen Hansen. Pieter works as clinical psychologist specializing in neuropsychology at the Oliver Zangwill Centre for Neuropsychological Rehabilitation in Ely, UK and in private practice in Cambridge, UK.