Dunedin's former "pen man" John Griffiths does not regret his hard work raising money for charity, but wishes he had taken life a bit more gently.
The 72-year-old had a stroke last year that put him in Dunedin Hospital for six weeks and spelled the end to a 12-year fundraising career which raised more than $240,000.
He had been fundraising five days a week before the stroke.
He advised people to slow down if they thought they were doing too much. He had previously had a mini-stroke, from which he recovered fully.
His main charities were Dunedin Hospital's newborn intensive care unit, Otago Community Hospice, Heart Children Otago and Otago SPCA.
He had used raffles to raise the money to buy the pens to sell for fundraising.
Mr Griffiths said he would not be returning to his regular spot in Albion Pl where he used to sell his pens.
While he could walk, with a frame, his right side felt heavy, and his circulation had been badly affected. His speech was not affected.
His goal was to improve enough to go for walks around his neighbourhood in Northeast Valley.
It was early October last year when Mr Griffiths, his pens packed for a day's fundraising, picked up the newspaper from his front gate and got a "funny feeling". His limbs would not work properly. His wife, Marilyn, rushed him to hospital, where he was treated promptly. He believed that was crucial to his level of recovery.
For this week's Stroke Awareness Week, September 5-12, the Stroke Foundation is stressing the need for prompt treatment. People are urged to follow the FAST (face, arms, speech, time) rule, checking the face, arms, and speech for symptoms, and calling help quickly to limit damage to the brain.
