'I was paralysed, but a miraculous tickle in my ear could get my body working again'

A man was left paralysed on the left side of his body for weeks – now a miraculous ‘tickle in his ear’ could get his body working again.

After having a stroke in April 2022, Stephen Hewitt was unable to walk for approximately eight months. The left side of his body was paralysed for weeks.

Two years later, aged just 54, he still has limited control of his left arm. Annually around 110,000 people in the UK will have a stroke – a serious life-threatening medical condition that happens when the blood supply to part of the brain is cut off. One third of stroke survivors, more than 36,500 people, are left with permanent arm weakness which can make daily activities difficult.

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Stephen, a former telecommunications strategy manager from Baguely, said: “It’s easy to take for granted just how much we use both arms in everyday life. I had more than 50 years of passing things to my left hand without a second thought, but now when I do so things end up on the floor – I’ve lost a lot of cups and saucers that way.”

Now, Stephen has become the first person in the North West to be recruited to a new study testing a portable, pacemaker-like device that could promise to transform the lives of those left with permanent arm weakness after a stroke.

Stephen heard about the trial through his speech therapy treatment. Although he is currently unable to work, he hopes to be able to do so in the future.

Previous research has shown that stimulating damaged areas of the brain through a key nerve in the body, known as the vagus nerve, improved arm recovery in stroke survivors when combined with stroke therapy – more than through therapy alone.