Sharath Srinivasan a Brain Stroke survivor chose to SWIM. This story is about him experiencing the days and minutes of his life after the stroke, and how he stayed strong to stay far away from falling off the cliff of death.
Sharath was blessed to have humble beginnings in a nuclear family with both parents and a sister. He was an active student both in his school and college days and participated in all extracurricular activities. He wrote his GMRIT and got selected for Polaris. Later he wrote his GMAT and completed his MBA in London and also completed certification of SAP FICO. He joined Infosys in the year 2014. Within 6 months of joining, he got promoted and this added fuel to his workaholism. He felt a compulsive need to work excessively and worked for 14 to 16 hours just to prove his worth. On the 12th of July 2015, Sharath’s struggle began.
On 12 July 2015, Sharath reached Mumbai from Hyderabad and was giving a presentation to the client, during which he started feeling a little uneasy and asked his colleague to continue. He tried to sit down and he realized that he was almost losing his muscle control. He fell on his colleague and people around gathered and took him to the nearest first aid center where his BP had shot to 190/110. Within 12 min he was taken to Fortis hospital, Vashi Mumbai. An MRI and CT scan revealed that he had suffered a hemorrhagic stroke, brain damage caused by a rupture of a blood vessel that leads to bleeding in the brain.
Sharath was given anesthesia and it took five hours for him to regain consciousness.
When he woke up from the trauma, he could not speak, his vision was blurred, he could not sit, stand or walk, no bladder or bowel control, and the right side of his body was paralyzed. His emotions were the lowest, he felt desolate, despondent, sad, and stuck. The feelings of hopelessness and despair made him feel that there was no point in living and he cried inconsolably.
So what was it that helped him reverse these feelings and overcome the challenges that life threw at him? He says it was the support and motivation that came from his parents. The success stories of Arunima Sinha (the first female amputee to climb mount Everest) and the comeback stories of Yuvraj Singh greatly inspired him to hit back to life. From Yuvraj Singh, the power of gratitude, from Arunima the power of determination to fight against all odds and make a mark for oneself. Thirdly it was the practice of vipassana, which helped him walk the path of self-transformation.
Let’s talk about his jaw-dropping determination and his incredible achievements in the face of obstacles. Sharath was endowed with a special spirit and he decided to not let anything take him away from what he loved – HIS WORK. He gave himself 6 months to bounce back to a state where he could resume work.
He started setting reasonable and incremental goals that not only helped him create progress in his condition but also boosted his confidence which resulted in decreasing the intensity of his hopelessness. He slowly began taking on daily tasks – bathing, sitting, eating with his left hand, and started learning basic alphabets and numbers. He was a right-handed person and imagine at age of 28 learned to be left-handed. Even though our brain is an amazing organ that changes to promote recovery of functions after a stroke, it is absolutely hard work that takes a lot of repetition to rewire the brain. Sharath remained strong, he kept targets in everything, whether it was dressing up, traveling, playing, eating by himself, his physio sessions, yoga classes, speech therapy, etc. he started celebrating his small success and realized that he was getting more and more reasons to celebrate life with each passing day. He never forgot to be grateful for the little feats and this positively correlated to more vitality, energy, and enthusiasm to keep him moving in life.
What helped him and is still helping him get great results are, MRM, Yoga, Vipassana, NLP, ICE, accelerated Mindset, and Mental wellness techniques.
He proved the quote, “Tiny tweaks lead to big changes” by Amy Cuddy.
He demonstrated that a positive mindset can do wonders.
He authenticated that loving oneself is the most important gift you can give to yourself.
He substantiated the benefits and power of meditation, yoga, and affirmations.
He expressed gratitude not by uttering words but by living by them.
He showed strength by not surrendering to his hardships.
Sharath ran the 5k Marathon in 2018
He got promoted to principal Consultant in the year 2019
In 2022 he acquired a certification in NLP and became a Super Coach.
In the same year, he penned a book, “DARE TO DREAM’ which is available on Amazon and Flipkart.
Unlike many stroke survivors, Sharath has made an almost full recovery, with no lasting physical or mental damage. He credits the timely diagnosis and care he received at the hospital. Major credit to his family, his parents who were always there to motivate and encourage him to overcome all difficulties during his journey to recovery.
We wish Sharath all the best along each step of his journey!
“Go after your dreams Sharath – May you get all the success and happiness you deserve!”
allyourtomorrows 