A supportive sister who has been there through the highs and lows of her sibling’s stroke recovery has created a touching and imaginative animation.
Park High School student Megan Neve (13) put her creative talents to use after being spotted by bosses at the Stroke Association.
Having seen her sister Charlotte (9) suffer a stroke and a brain haemorrhage last year, Megan decided to base her illustrations and words on her family’s rollercoaster of a journey.
The inspirational piece, called “Strokina and Super C”, tells the story of “Strokina”, who chases people and traps them inside bubbles, or ‘chaos spheres’. The hero, Super C, manages to break free from the bubble and sets about rescuing the others.
It was brought to life with the help of educational company Hyper Island, and student, Robin Schneider.
Talking about her experiences, bookworm Megan, who one day wants to work for Disney, said: “It was really fun to do and I enjoyed making the story and seeing what it could be like to work as an animator which is something I want to do.
“It’s good to be able to help other people see stroke differently and show people it can happen to anybody at any age.”
Megan and Charlotte’s mum Leila, who writes a monthly column for Leader Times Newspapers, has been left bursting with pride at her eldest daughter’s latest achievement.
The project, she said, has helped Megan express her emotions through her passion of drawing and has been a therapeutic process for her to go through.
The 33-year-old, who will be moving to Trawden in the New Year, added: “Megan is very practical, and bases what she feels on what she can see, so this has given her a real outlet for things that were going on in her head.
“She has been amazing, the best big sister in the world, and she is brilliant in a crisis. Even on that day when I was on the floor with Charlotte, she went round and got everybody some clothes, flagged the ambulance down, got a neighbour, and totally sorted everything out.
“I’m so proud to see her drawings come to life in this way and really thankful to the Stroke Association and Robin for creating the animation.”
Also wanting to air their praise for Megan are Robin and head of operations from the Stroke Association Chris Larkin - both of who agreed Charlotte’s recovery has been made possible thanks to the support of her dedicated family.
Mr Larkin said: “In the UK, more than 400 children and babies have a stroke every year. That’s more than one a day. Megan’s animation will go a long way in helping us to raise awareness of stroke in children.”
Charlotte received a National Life After Stroke award in June, and now the Stroke Association is urging people to nominate stroke survivors, carers and volunteers 2014 Life After Stroke Awards (LASA).
Visit www.stroke.org.uk/lasa and to see Megan’s animation go to www.pendletoday.co.uk
