Ireland ‘heading for a crisis’ on strokes

George Byrne was holding down two jobs and getting by with just over four hours sleep every night when he suffered a stroke.

“I was very busy. I used to drive a rigid lorry, and that was a very physical job. I also drove a taxi every week-end. I was getting just four and a half hours sleep most nights. I was 56 years old but still thought I was a young lad,” he recalls.

One night he went to bed early: “I was reading a book to help me sleep, but when I put it down, the room started spinning, and I got violently sick. My wife, Teresa, called the ambulance — that arrived very quickly because it was in the vicinity.”