Clodagh Dunlop

A Return to Duty Clodagh Dunlop

Imagine you are 35 years old, fit and healthy. Now imagine waking up and being unable to move or talk. How would you feel of you could see and hear perfectly, if you were aware of everything going on around you, but couldn't show it? How would anyone know you were even there?At the start of April 2015, this terrifying scenario became a reality for Clodagh Dunlop. At 35, she suddenly suffered a brainstem stroke which left her on life support. She awoke with locked-in syndrome. Clodagh, a police officer in Northern Ireland adored her job, loving the challenges of the intense unique working environment. Clodagh lived life to the full, a health fanatic she ran 4 miles every day before a gym session and enjoyed skydiving and adrenalin sports. When Clodagh awoke from an induced coma two days after the stroke she couldn't move, speak or even breath on her own. Paralysed from the top of her head to the soles of her feet, every muscle unusable apart from her eyes, she could blink. Terrified at finding herself completely helpless, Clodagh had to find the courage to break out of locked-in syndrome. She had to believe in her ability to recover against all the odds, to walk and talk again. In this book, Clodagh documents the darkest moments of her very rare recovery from this devastating condition. Her raw honesty about this true life journey will make you laugh and cry.