In December 2018, Justin Dullard’s life changed completely when he had a stroke on his property at Pine Grove, about 12km out of Lockington.
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Mr Dullard was at the shearing sheds on his farm, ‘Bawn Moore’, on the morning of Monday, December 17, when he began to feel strange.
“I walked out of the shearing shed, and I don’t know why, there were no sheep in the shed,” he said.
“I started feeling funny ... I started feeling worse and worse and got as far as the sheep yard fence and went unconscious.
“The left-hand side of my brain bled out.”
Mr Dullard spent two days outside at the sheep yard in 40°C temperatures unable to move until he eventually dragged himself inside.
“I staggered back into the house,” he said.
“Two paramedics turned up ... when they carted me away I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t speak.”
Mr Dullard’s daughter, Emma, received a missed call from her father alongside a blurry photo of the ground.
“My stomach sank, I knew something was horribly wrong,” she said.
“I dropped my handbag and started calling him. After five minutes he picked up and I could just faintly hear breathing.
“My gut instincts kicked in and I yelled for my housemate to call 000.”
Living about 200km away in Melbourne, she immediately jumped in the car to be with her dad, who was then 62.
“I got in the car and my husband, Shane, started driving. I didn’t know if Dad would still be alive when I got there,” Ms Dullard said.
“That drive was the worst three hours of my life.”
Mr Dullard spent six weeks at Echuca Regional Health, first in intensive care before being moved to rehabilitation.
He spent every day at ERH working to get his voice back, before moving to St George’s Health Service in Melbourne for months of specialist rehab.
“I was a bloody mess then ... I couldn’t talk, my voice didn’t work,” he said.
“Every day we’d do rehabilitation.”
Leaving hospital in Melbourne and coming back to Bawm Moore was an incredible feeling for Mr Dullard.
“I felt bloody good,” he said.
“I didn’t have a drink for 12 months, so I started having a few.”
During his working life, Mr Dullard was a truck driver, with his own ‘Jusard’ trucks. He also ran the Melbourne Marathon in 1989.
Since his stroke, Mr Dullard has planted more than 1200 trees on his property. He finds it a way to keep active.
“Planting these trees ... I’ve got a thousand things to do,” he said.
“I’ve done a lot of them.
“(For) 50 years I’ve driven trucks and cars and I never had a crash. I drove trucks 45 hours to Perth.
Mr Dullard was able to walk Emma down the aisle and deliver a speech at her wedding in June, which he was grateful to have done.
“It was the best feeling I’ve had in life,” he said.
He is also a proud father to Rachael and Will.
“I’ve got three beautiful children; I’m the luckiest bloke in the world that I’m still here,” he said.
Next year, the Dullard family will mark 150 years of the Bawn Moore property. Mr Dullard’s grandmother used to live in the house, telling a young Justin it would one day be his.
“I used to call in when I was about five or six,” he said.
“She said, ‘one day, this place will be yours, Justin’.”
He is looking forward to celebrating the anniversary and feels lucky to have that opportunity.
National Stroke Week, from August 5 to 11, aims to educate people on the signs of a stroke, so that medical treatment can be given and survival prospects can increase.
Receiving timely treatment is key to stroke survival.
Mr Dullard believes that if he spent another night in the sheep yard, he may not have survived.
“We know that the faster a stroke patient gets to hospital and receives medical treatment, the better their chance of survival and successful rehabilitation,” Stroke Foundation chief executive Lisa Murphy said.
Dr Murphy said regional Australians were 17 per cent more likely to experience a stroke than their metropolitan counterparts.
Noticing the signs of a stroke is also critical to a good outcome for a patient.
“More than 80 per cent of strokes are preventable. You can help save a life by learning the F.A.S.T. signs of stroke,” Dr Murphy said.
F.A.S.T. is an acronym recommended for use when looking for symptoms of a stroke.
Face: Check their face. Has their mouth drooped?
Arms: Can they lift both arms?
Speech: Is their speech slurred? Do they understand you?
Time: Time is critical.
If you see any of these signs, call 000. Further information about stroke prevention and awareness can be found on the Stroke Foundation website.
Justin Dullard is happy to speak to people about his experience, and can be contacted on 0428 507 330.
Cadet Journalist