A Strictly Come Dancing star has opened up about his health journey that inspired his Couple’s Choice dance.
Graeme Hall, alongside his professional partner Lauren Oakley, performed their Couple’s Choice to The Book of Love by Peter Gabriel.
Before taking to the dancefloor, Graeme shared his story about his journey after suffering a stroke.
Graeme Hall opens up about suffering a stroke
Graeme suffered a stroke seven years ago after feeling a “weird buzzing” in his head.
He told The Mirror: “I fell down and I kind of knew instantly what it was because one side of my face felt funny.
“I went to hospital, and an MRI scan later they confirmed it was a stroke.”
He said there were no signs that he was unwell.
After taking part in a charity event in 2012, Graeme fell in love with dancing and started taking classes at a local dance school.
After his stroke, he stopped dancing.
During his time in the hospital, it was revealed that he had a hole in his heart.
He added: “I’d had it since birth - lots of people do - but mine was big enough to allow clots to pass through from one side to the other and get to the brain and that's what caused the stroke.
“Thankfully it was nowhere near as bad as some people have it.
“I've been very fortunate.”
Since then, Graeme had surgery to close the hole and took around seven months to recover.
Graeme said: “You can either say, ‘how unlucky am I? I’ve just had a stroke,’ or you say ‘how lucky am I that I had a stroke that wasn't too serious and they can fix the thing that caused it?’
“On balance you’ve got to say ‘I’m a lucky man’, haven’t you?
“I’ve always been a glass-half-full kind of person.”
You can find all of the latest news and updates about Strictly Come Dancing in our guide here.
Fans took to social media to share their thoughts on the personal dance with one person saying: “A beautiful dance from a fellow stroke survivor.”
Another person said: “Just want to thank Graeme for telling his story through his couples choice with Lauren.
“It was so beautiful to watch made me emotional seeing his reaction when he finished his dance.”
Did you like Graeme and Lauren’s Couple’s Choice? Let us know in the comments.
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