After overcoming a devastating stroke at just 22 months old, a young woman is taking to the internet to show people how she lives with only one working hand and inspire other stroke and injury survivors to become more independent.
Chiara Beer, 27, who lives in Winchester, suffered a devastating stroke as a baby which left her with lasting effects and a life-long disability. She now lives with right sided hemiplegia - a condition that results in weakness and lack of movement in one side of the body.
For Chiara, this meant that she lost movement on her right side, almost completely losing the use of her arm.
She explains: "I don't really have much movement in my arm on my right side. I tend to do everything one-handed."
As well as this, due to the stroke, Chiara also now also lives with acquired dyslexia and is unable to read or write.
Growing up with this disability, as she got older, Chiara realised there was a huge lack of resources and information for young stroke survivors and was unable to find anyone else who was experiencing similar things on her, so she decided to start sharing content on Instagram and YouTube.
She said: "When I was younger, there wasn’t much information about strokes, particularly in young people. So it kind of came from that. And on my Instagram I used to get loads of questions like how I did my hair [with one hand] and stuff like that."
The determined 27 year old began posting videos, sharing more about her own story of stroke survival and showing her followers various aspects of her day to day life, living with only one working arm, for example, how she drives using a specially adapted car and how technology helps her to read and write.
She received a huge outpouring of love and support from her viewers, including messages of love from other stroke survivors and people who suffer from other similar disabilities, thanking her for showing them little hacks and tricks on how to become a little more independent.
"The response has been good. I got a lot of messages from parents, saying you've helped me because now my child can be independent. Yeah, I think I am able to help people who have had strokes later in life as well, like in their 20s, as well. And I do get messages from young people who have had strokes."
Chiara admitted that she loves knowing that she is able to offer support to other young stroke survivors, saying: It makes me feel happy that I can help so many people."
She added: "I wanted to help raise awareness about young people having strokes and also I wanted to help young people to find a way to be able to be independent. As for me, this has always been my main goal. To be independent."
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More recently, Chiara’s work was discovered by charity, Different Strokes. The national charity soley works with and supports young stroke survivors under the age of 65. Lauren Hartney is part of the charity based in Milton Keynes.
She said: "We provide a whole host of services. So we do emotional support, we have social groups, we do lots of online stuff. The main focus of the charity is peer support.
"A lot of the staff volunteers and trustees are stroke survivors themselves or they have a close personal connection to strokes. So they use those personal experiences to help other people going through it."
Lauren came across Chiara’s channel one day and knew instantly that she would be the perfect advocate to represent the charity. Chiara is now working with the Different Strokes, releasing a series of videos in collaboration with the charity.
It is often the most every day tasks that survivors struggle with, Lauren shared, which is why in her videos, Chiara shows others how she goes about doing things that we all do day to day, like tying her hair with one hand, doing up the button on her jeans or applying her makeup.
The videos have gained huge support from the community, with other stroke survivors commenting on the videos and sending messages of thanks to both Chiara and Different Strokes.
Laura said about the videos: "We've had people who message saying, 'my daughter's had a stroke and she's a toddler now and this gives me hope that she can be independent'. I think the quality and the hope that Chiara is bringing to people is immeasurable."
Chiara shares her advice for others struggling with their recovery: "Be patient with yourself, because you'll get there. I know it takes practice, but I feel like the more you practise it will get easier to do. Be determined, because I think you can do it, but if not you might just have to find another way."