Al Voss – From Fear to Empowerment, and Building a Community of Support

Five weeks after heart surgery, when I thought I was recovering well, I suddenly collapsed in a public place. I was lucky — the police and paramedics were right there. But the stroke scared me in a way nothing else had. I lost my memory, my balance, and I couldn’t walk properly. My biggest fear was that someone would have to take care of me for the rest of my life. That thought terrified me.

In those first weeks, I didn’t talk about my fears, not even to my family and closest friends. I kept them inside, and I slipped into depression without even realizing it. Looking back, I wish I had known the risk factors of stroke earlier — I had every single one. We learn so much about disease only after it happens to us.

Recovery was slow. It took months. But little by little, I started to regain strength. One of my turning points was being able to walk the length of my driveway with my dog. That moment told me I could find my way back.

What also helped me was peer support. After my heart surgery, I didn’t think I needed it — I had recovered so quickly. But after my stroke, when a volunteer from Mended Hearts told me what to expect, it prepared me in ways no medical brochure could. That conversation made all the difference.

That experience changed me. I began offering peer support to others — patients with heart disease, stroke, cancer, and their families. I’ve spoken with countless people, sometimes every day, and I’ve seen how much comfort it brings just to talk to someone who’s been there.

It also inspired me to help bring Mended Hearts Europe to life, so that patients here could have the same support and community that had been so important in my own journey.

Today, I live with limitations, but I live fully. I’m active, I have a purpose, and I get to help others every day. That, to me, is a full life.

My message is simple: “Don’t face illness alone. Peer support is a gift — and it can change your life.”