A NATIONWIDE scheme to help raise stroke awareness will take place this month with the Okehampton Rotary Club ready to give a helping hand. The stroke awareness day in Okehampton will take place on Saturday in the Charter Hall and will see Rotary Club members assist trained medical staff in providing free blood pressure checks to anyone attending the event. There is also a coffee morning in which the club aims to promote stroke awareness in conjunction with Rotary Clubs across the UK and Ireland. Rotary Club president Kay Bickley said: 'We have learnt high blood pressure is the largest single preventable cause of a stroke. 'It is estimated that four out of ten deaths due to stroke could have been prevented if high blood pressure had been diagnosed and properly controlled.' Rotarian, Ian Bailey, added: 'More than 100,000 people in Britain and Ireland will have a first stroke every year. Of these, nearly 200 people a day will die, only cancer and heart disease kills more. This astounding fact prompted Rotary Clubs to run a stroke awareness day.' Stroke is the single largest cause of severe disability and, at any one time, more than 300,000 people are living with disabilities due to stroke.
