Every second 100 billion neurons in our brains are each firing 5-50 messages, each one a vital spark of connection that ignites our unique identity, and writes the story of our life. But when a stroke strikes, that story is changed forever. This year the WSO campaign is drawing its inspiration from the power of our brain’s infinite connections, energy and capacity to overcome harnessing it to the emotional power of sport to show that as a team we have the power to be #GreaterThan stroke.
We aim to build a movement inspired and motivated by stories of courage, resilience, inventiveness and hope from our global stroke community. From the survivors who work every day to build back their lives, the caregivers who coach and support, the healthcare teams that race against time to save lives, the rehab specialists who get people moving one step at a time, we will show that we have what it takes to deliver a world free from stroke.
We’re calling on our community to help us bring the campaign to life by thinkiing big and connecting our campaign team to:
- Sports celebrities who have lived experience of stroke
- Sporty survivors and/or caregivers who have used sport/physical activity as part of the their rehabilitation, awareness and/or to raise funds
- Inclusive activity leaders/sports coaches/friends who are enabling stroke survivors to follow sporting passions/challenges
- Doctors, nurses and AHPs who are keen sports persons or an unusual sports interest
- National Sports Associations, Local Clubs and Leagues – reach out to them and ask them to share information about stroke and prevention to their members and public using their existing communication networks. (We’ll be sharing a template with members and partners soon!)
Look out for our global physical activity challenge that will provide a Call to Action and if you are planning a physical activity event in October, our hope is that you will encourage your local participants to sign-up and log their participation as part of Team #GreaterThan. Who knows we may even introduce a little healthy international competition