Plymouth DJ left in coma by drugs overdose battles to walk again
A DJ left in a coma by a huge drug overdose has described his battle to rebuild his life – and to walk again.
Stuart Page, 30, suffered massive brain damage after taking a cocktail of cocaine, methadone and alcohol.
Friends discovered him unconscious and barely breathing in bed at his Mutley flat the following day.
Oxygen starvation to his brain left him unable to walk and severely affected his sight and short-term memory.
Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk
View detailsOur heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.
Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk
Contact: 01858 468192
Valid until: Friday, May 31 2013
After six weeks on life support and months of intense rehabilitation, Stuart was told he could be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
Five years later, he has taken his first steps with a frame and is determined to walk unaided.
Stuart, who now lives on the Barbican, said: "I could have lost my life, I was very close.
"They say it was touch and go. I was being kept alive by machines.
"The doctors were unsure if I would ever come out of that vegetative state.
"I've come a long way since then, sometimes I forget how far.
"My life has totally changed but there's so much I want to do still."
He is planning a tandem skydive to help two charities which have supported him – Plymouth Music Zone and Hannahs.
Stuart, also known as DJ Spinz who was part of hip-hop act The Scribes, hopes to work with young people and warn them of the danger of drugs.
"I want to try and help young people before they do something stupid." he said.
"If you mess around with drugs, there's a possibility of losing all the things you've learned throughout your life.
"All the things you've mastered, you have to spend years relearning."
Stuart, who had been a DJ and producer throughout much of his 20s, said that before the overdose he had been a recreational drug user.
He described the music scene and drugs as going "hand in hand".
On the night he almost lost his life in 2007, he had been drinking with an old friend.
"I had a few beers with him and I suspected there was going to be drugs involved," said Stuart.
"I was just going along with it. It was cocaine, I'd drunk quite a lot as well, and then methadone which I'd never had before.
"There was too much going on, too many chemicals in my system."
Stuart returned to his flat and fell unconscious.
The following day his band mates came round to pick him up for practice but were unable to rouse him.
They called an ambulance and Stuart was taken to Derriford Hospital.
After six weeks of intensive care, he was moved to the Plym neuro-rehabilitation unit at Mount Gould Hospital for months, and then to Waters Park Brain Injury Centre in Stoke.
Since he has moved in to a flat on the Barbican, he receives 24-hour support from carers and regular physiotherapy.
In the past year Stuart has completed an album called Global Assault, named after a term his doctors used to describe his brain injury.
"My brain has been gradually mending," he said.
"I have had to relearn everything. I didn't talk a lot to start with because I was so confused.
"It's only in the last six months, I've got a private physio who's helping me to walk. I'm not going to be able to run a marathon, but just to be to walk around my flat would be fine.
"I want to break that barrier – to walk unaided.
"I'm always working on new music, I've joined the gym to strengthen my muscles. I want to push and push and do as much as I can."
Comments
by TrulyBlessed
Tuesday, September 18 2012, 4:42PM
“@kernowbirdy - well done for rising above some of the harsh comments on here. Your brother is an inspiration, even if that inspiration came from a moment of stupidity. We have all made huge errors of judgment in our lives and it's about what we do afterwards that determines what kind of a person we truly are. I for one have drank myself into stupid states and been lucky to have no lasting effects. Now I use my experiences to inspire young people to make good choices in their lives. I'm also inspired to use your brother's story to highlight the dangers of drug taking to the young people I work with and will certainly look at the documentary you mentioned. Good on him for fighting back and trying to make a difference.”
by abigailedge01
Thursday, September 13 2012, 10:14AM
“As someone who knew Stu before and after his accident all I can say is there is more surrounding the circumstances of that tragic night than meets the eye so think before you judge. His recovery has been incredible and it's a testament to his strong character that he's managed to stay positive and help others instead giving up on life and feeling sorry for himself. So well done Stu and good luck with the skydive – watch out for the smashed crabs!
”
by imapilgrim
Wednesday, September 05 2012, 12:30PM
“your welcome @kernowbirdy
too many are too quick to judge people for their errors too quick to make assumptions without knowing facts (nothing is black and white) but dont take it to heart , if you read these pages regularly its the same people who make such comments and who are so quick to attack others for looking at the good in people/things rather than just the negative tbh its this type of poster who i have pity for NOT your brother who seems able to concentrate on rebuilding his life and to helping others and all power to his elbow for that !”
by prophetofdoom
Wednesday, September 05 2012, 12:21PM
“"I also know people who suffered from lung cancer, never smoked, drank rarely, who died because they weren't able to have the treatment they needed under the NHS due to the money not being available from a billion pound budget."
I'm sorry but this is just not true. I've worked in the NHS for many years and very ill people get the lions share of resources, precisely because they are so ill. Unless there are clinical reasons for not perscribing a drug, no-one is denied life saving treatment due to a lack of money.
Also well done to Stuart for getting on with his life and helping others by being a living example of the harm drugs can do.”
by kernowbirdy
Wednesday, September 05 2012, 11:08AM
“thankyou to those of you that have written positive comments about Stu, I was really upset by some I read yesterday and they seem to have missed the point of the article which was firstly to try and show the bad and very real effects of a drug taking lifestyle and secondly (the reason he wanted publicity) was to raise money for two incredible local charities. Stu does not and never has wanted sympathy or pity and has never blamed anyone else for his situation. He knows, and we, his family who love and support him, know that it was his own doing and the most stupid and dangerous mistake he has ever made. We all make mistakes and bad choices that lead us down the wrong path, some us suffer the consequences some of us don't.
A documentary was made by the BBC about Stu a few years ago and friends of mine have shown it to their teenage kids to show them what can happen when you start dabbling with drugs and that it can happen to a person just like them. It acts as a pretty good deterrent. You can find it on u tube if you search for Spinz Inside Out.
Give him a break and sponser him to support Dame Hannahs School and Plymouth Music Zone.
Thankyou”
by CharlieDodd
Wednesday, September 05 2012, 10:28AM
“JT said- 'Stuart wants to use his experience to educate youngsters about the danger of drugs'..
Yes he's doing a good job, sorry if I was too jokey about it.
And hopefully kids will also look at aging shambling befuddled rock stars to see the effect a lifetime of drugs has had on them”
by fazer58
Wednesday, September 05 2012, 9:30AM
“Good on you Stuart.A good friend of mine had a very similar experience,if it wasn't for her Mother the Doctors would have switched off her life support machine,like you she's had to learn to do everything again from scratch,walk,talk,feed herself etc.A few years down the line she's left with minor brain damage and a bit of short-term memory loss,she's also actively pursuing her dream of becoming a freelance photographer and supporting herself again.
She was never a junkie,someone who met the wrong people at a very bad time in her life discovered the joys of Crystal Meth the hard way and ended up in a coma for several weeks.
Yes you were stupid but most of has been there in different ways,walked away older and wiser and learned from the experience.I'd hope you repay those who have put you back together by doing something useful like speaking to school children or young offenders on the side of drugs the dealers don't want people to see.
Good luck.”
by imapilgrim
Tuesday, September 04 2012, 7:58PM
“hmmm i see plymouth really does have some perfect people who have never made bad judgements or maybe they have and have got away with it so nobody knows , i do believe the old saying 'but for the grace of god go i ' is very prevelent in cases such as this where many are so quick to judge.
im not surprised at the 'i had it bad and i turned out alright' brigade how good or bad your upbringing has little bearing on these things and stereotyping like this only serves to show ignorance :(”
by JTPlymouth
Tuesday, September 04 2012, 7:52PM
“Ironically, Stuart might actually agree with stevodevo. But he doesn't have a TARDIS so can't travel back in time and change what happened. It's human to error and there are all kinds of unimaginable circumstances that can lead someone on an erroneous path that wreaks horrendous damage to themselves and/or others.
There are two important things to bear in mind: Stuart didn't wilfully cost the health services a small fortune; it was an accident he can't undo, no matter how much it was attributable at the time to recklessness and stupidity. The second thing to recognise is that Stuart wants to use his experience to educate youngsters about the danger of drugs. So society could well end up with a net gain.
Show a little humanity and give Stuart a little encouragement.”
by Potbelly1
Tuesday, September 04 2012, 7:25PM
“There you go kids! READ this story! don't mess with Drugs!”