Stroke survivor now motivational speaker

Sharad Kumar Tekalkote was a thriving marketing professional and health freak when he suffered a brain stroke.

It took him years to recover, but in the process, he learnt many life lessons. There is life after a stroke, he now tells people devastated by it.

“I did everything---jogging, swimming, tai chi, and karate thrice a week, and was so confident about my health,” he recalls. “Let’s say I had the ego that I was the healthiest.”

On October 18, 2012, he suddenly found himself unable to speak in the middle of a conference. He managed to sit in a bus and reached a hospital, and was later shocked when he was told about how 30,000 brain cells die each second.

“I took an hour to reach the hospital. I lost my voice for three years and my right side is paralysed to this day,” he says.

After the surgery and a few days in the hospital he was discharged. He couldn’t do his chores, or even mouth his name or his son’s name ‘Dev’.

He couldn’t frame phrases or even recognise shapes. It would take him five minutes to rearrange letters to form simple words like rat and cat. Even a couple of years after his surgery, he couldn’t comprehend sentences. Today he is the author of a book and gives inspirational lectures.

During the recovery, Sharad went through depression and had suicidal thoughts, but his family and friends helped him keep his spirits up.

He is now part of an organisation called Stroke India, founded by doctors and patients.

“About 80 percent don’t survive an acute stroke,19 percent people give up, and only 1 percent fight. If you don’t give up, the universe will help you,” says Sharad.

He has spoken at many places, including Infosys, VF Brands and Rotary Club, to take his story to as many people as possible.

His book ‘An Incredible Journey---From Stroke to Recovery was published in 2017. It has already sold 500 copies.

The book is a personal journey, describing what he went through, and how determination and motivation made a difference.

Dr Poornima, Sharad’s therapist, was the motivation for the book, released by K R Ramesh Kumar, the then health minister.

“I hope to open an e-store on strokeindia.org to sell supplies, such as braces and sticks, for stroke patients. I also want to be a counsellor and will start my lessons for survivors,” he says.

Sharad Tekalkote can be contacted on [e-mail] or 98862 92210.