“i found my voice through song”

Daniella Gonzalez was packing her bags in the bedroom, looking forward to going home to her family in Spain for Christmas, when she had her stroke.

“I can remember very little about it although my partner says he found me on the floor,” says Daniella, who was just 34 and worked in marketing at the time.

“When I came to, my hand was turned back and when I tried to speak, it came out as strange noises.”

Daniella was rushed to hospital where it was discovered that she had antiphospholipid syndrome, also called Hughes syndrome, which led to the stroke and, later, a heart attack, as well as lupus.

“When I was well enough, the doctor suggested that I went back to recover in Spain,” Daniella says.

“He thought that because Spanish was my main language, it might be easier for me to start talking there again. But I still couldn’t.

“Not being able to speak after a stroke was one of the worst things, as it is for many stroke survivors.”

“My speech therapist suggested that I tried to sing instead,” she continues.

“We began with baby songs. I found I could do it and that my words were clearer. Apparently, this is because the ability to sing comes from a different part of the brain from talking.”

Daniella then returned to the UK to be with her partner. They moved from London to Bath where she found rehabilitation help through the Stroke Association.

“They told me about the aphasia choir for people who could sing, even though they had problems speaking clearly,” she adds.

Singing, Daniella says, has saved her.

“As a family in Spain, we always used to sing, but now it has played a vital part in my recovery.

“It has lifted my spirits and helped me to help others. I particularly love classical, jazz rock and pop like The Carpenters, Queen, Robbie Williams and Amy Winehouse, who has the most beautiful voice ever.

“I tell people that I found my voice in song and that they can do the same.”

Daniella, now 52, gradually learned to talk more coherently.

“I have a different accent in English,” she says.

“I hardly had an accent before the stroke. My hand-writing is still terrible.

“I used to play the piano but because of my stroke my right han