Losing her voice, not being able to move, speak or communicate are some of the signs that she received before being diagnosed with Aphasia - a disorder that affects how you communicate, your speech as well as the way you write and understand both spoken and written language.

?ONE YEAR LATER?

It has been a year since the Lira, real name Lerato Moipone Molapo was hit by a stroke while booked to perform in Germany. She shares her journey of what happened to her when she was in Germany. "It had been three years since I travelled overseas due to covid and I had traveled alone to Frankfurt, the band was coming from Sweden. I arrived two days before my performance. I walked around taking in the sights and scenes and the people. I had seen a poster with Landgren featuring Moses and myself. I even saw the venue where we would've performed. I spent the whole afternoon walking,' she says.

FEELING ILL?

She recalls the minute she was hit by a stroke. "At about 4:15 pm I had a stroke, the sensation lasted about 15 minutes,' she says. "I had no idea what was happening, so I kept walking and nobody could see that I had a stroke because I was walking normally.' She then walked into a restaurant, but she couldn't talk. "I moved my mouth, but words couldn't come out. When I realised this, I just broke down. The staff at the restaurant offered me a seat. I couldn't communicate.' She thought about asking them the direction to her hotel, it was nearby. "I couldn't communicate that. Once I stopped crying and got myself together, I left. It took me two hours to find my hotel.'

TRYING TO SPEAK?

It was about 7 pm when she got to her hotel. "I couldn't communicate with the receptionist so I just took a shower and tried to communicate via WhatsApp- but I could not type,' she says. "The words made absolutely no sense to me. I couldn't figure out what the letters meant and how to put them together.
I managed to get a hold of someone special to me- and got them to understand that I wasn't alright.'

DIAGNOSED WITH A STROKE

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On 23 March, she fell asleep and in the morning her agent tried to reach her. "She sent two people to my room, and they figured out that I couldn't speak,' she says. "The German promoter came and called the ambulance. The paramedics couldn't speak English and it was only when I got to hospital that I found out that I had a stroke. Wow! I was shocked.  I cried the whole day, and in the morning, I accepted my situation.' She was diagnosed with Aphasia, a disorder that affects how you communicate, your speech as well as the way you write and understand both spoken and written language. "I couldn't speak or write or read and I  must say that I am lucky! Many people don't come away with that! I had to learn to speak as a child, learning how to say each letter, and forming a sentence. I did so joyfully though, I had no anxiety, no stress - just peace and calm. I have made such huge progress and I gave a speech at my birthday party. I'm almost there. Lira thanks everyone who for the support. "Thank you to all of you who kept me in your prayers and kept me in your good thoughts. You let your light shine for me. "In the year that I've needed to learn how to speak - I've enjoyed listening and the silence. I've learnt to be happier. I've learned to enjoy the simple things. Life is a gift and I hope to celebrate the gift of life for many years.'