ITV Dancing on Ice star recalls surviving stroke aged 24 ahead of walking down aisle at wedding
29.10.2023 - 16:47
/ ok.co.uk
When former Dancing On Ice champion Alex Murphy ties the knot before a star-studded congregation, including Torvill and Dean, this winter it won’t just be her dream day – but a reminder of how far she’s come. For the pro-skater, who’s marrying YouTube star Paul Klein at Hertfordshire stately home Ashridge House, was just 24 years-old when she had a stroke.
The experience left her paralysed and fearing she’d never walk - let alone skate - again. 11 years on, she insists she won’t let it define her.
She famously won the UK version of Dancing On Ice with Joe Swash three years ago, despite living with chronic fatigue and admitting to gruelling days during training. Today, speaking to raise awareness for World Stroke Day this Sunday (29th) Alex, admits: “There was a time I honestly thought I might not be alive to see this day at all. “My dad had a stroke a year and a half after me too.
We both have the hereditary heart condition, PFO. We have a dry sense of humour. “He always jokes, ‘any day above ground’s a good day’ and, ‘Look.
Not dead. Another year!”. But it’s that kind of attitude that has carried me through.
“So it’s amazing to think I’m actually getting married. I think that’s really a big thing for my parents too, when they think, ‘god, look, she’s actually walking down the aisle after everything’.” Alex, who now mentors other young stroke survivors, is Ambassador for Style For Stroke - a charity set up in 2018 by her good friend Nick Ede, a PR and brand expert whose mother died from stroke. Nick has support from droves of other celebrities too, including Game Of Thrones star Emilia Clarke, who is also a stroke survivor at 37 and Naomie Harris OBE, who recently posted her support for his campaign on social media.