Doctors star Diane Keen celebrates her 80th birthday next month, just nine days after her third anniversary stroke So catastrophic doctors said that usually only 2% of people survived. Hailed as a ‘miracle’ by physicians for cheating death, she is now writing her autobiography, producing and starring in a feature film. documentary About surviving a stroke.
Of her remarkable recovery, the thrice-married star – who has a daughter, Melissa Greenwood, with her second husband, actor Paul Greenwood – says: “I never thought I would die. I never questioned it. Even when my daughter was told I would probably die, I just kept thinking about when I would be fully recovered and pick up my life where I left off.
“I never strayed from that idea. I didn’t even think about being wheelchair-bound. That wasn’t going to happen. It’s very important to keep a positive attitude and be determined to do everything possible to recover. I saw people much younger than me give up in those wards. I’m not religious, but I do believe in the way the universe works.”
Celebrating her birthday on July 29, Diane, who lives near Botley, Hampshire, has starred in TV hits The Cuckoo Waltz, Rings on Their Fingers, The Ruth Rendell Mysteries and The Sweeney Film, as well as starring in long-running films. Advertising campaign for Nescafe. But she’s best known for playing Julia Parsons in the soap opera Doctors from 2003 to 2012 – although that didn’t help her in her time of need. She says: “I didn’t play the doctor – Julia was the practice manager.”
On the day of her stroke – July 20, 2023 – Diane was staying at the home of her daughter, Melissa, an actress and theater agent. She says: “I was looking after Melissa’s pets while she was on holiday. I was still in my pajamas when, just after 8am, as I opened the conservatory doors, I experienced a very strong explosion in my head.
“Then things started spinning and I started feeling dizzy. I stood there holding a door. Thinking, ‘That was it’ Strange. I wonder what it was?’ Then I realized it and said out loud ‘Oh my God, I’m having a stroke!’ “
Her mobile was upstairs, but after crossing a room below, she says: “My body became paralyzed and I hit the deck with a thud. With only two fingers and two toes functioning properly, I very slowly made my way to the bottom of the stairs, but could go no further. I couldn’t speak and could barely see.
“I could just wait until Melissa returned the next day. Then I laid on her living room floor for 30 hours. I was in no physical pain, possibly due to paralysis. I eventually woke up and Melissa was like ‘Oh my God, Mom!’ Was saying.”
Within 30 minutes, an ambulance arrived and took Dianne to the nearest hospital in Portsmouth. She recalls: “There was a clot at the base of my skull and another clot on the top of my head – they happened together. The consultant on duty took Melissa aside and told her bluntly that ‘there’s massive brain damage, so get your family here as soon as possible because he probably doesn’t have much time.'”
Taken to intensive care, he was introduced to the man who would be his doctor. She says: “A lovely matron appointed me a stroke consultant, Dr Khan, who was excellent. She took my hand in hers and said, ‘I’m not going to lie, you’ve had one of the most serious strokes, and if you have another stroke in the next two weeks it will kill you.’
“‘But we’re going to do everything we can to get you through this. You’re a warrior and so am I. I promise you that you’re going to be out of the hospital, and with any luck, the blood clots will dissolve in time.’ Within 20 minutes, I had all the medical equipment known to man… I looked like a cyborg, but I just knew I was safe.
Dianne’s paralysis recovered and she says: “Two weeks to the day of my stroke, I was able to stand. Learning to walk again as an adult is scary – I found that the hardest part. But. After three weeks, Dr Khan said ‘I’m satisfied you’re medically healthy’, and a nurse told me ‘You’re a miracle!'”
Transferred to a hospital closer to home in Southampton, Diane, who was in hospital for two months – with Melissa there every day – remembers seeing her face for the first time. “The right side of my face was gone. I didn’t look at myself for three weeks and was shocked,” she says.
When she went home, Diane received daily care at first, but after only six weeks she decided she could cope alone. And with regular checkups she started recovering. She says: “Once you get home, you recover quickly, because you have to. But there is no quick fix for a stroke. Dr Khan told me it would probably take three years. My speech was poor, and my vision was also not good, as one eye was not working. I had to wear a patch over it for 17 months until I had a successful operation. Now it has improved a lot and my face is as it should be.”
Dianne still gets dizzy spells that cannot be cured and has pins and needles on her right side, sometimes extending into her back and neck. She says: “I go to the gym five days a week and that gets it under control a bit. Sometimes I have breathing and memory problems – I forgot Andrew Lloyd Webber’s name when I was interviewed on stage last year.”
She adds: “I will probably stay on the drug (ramipril) blood pressureand clopidogrel, to prevent blood clots) for the rest of my life, but I remind myself that I’m alive. My consultant in Southampton said, ‘We can’t do anything about the dizziness, it’s your brain, you have to live with it.’
“He also explained that ‘With the type of stroke you have, the chance of survival is only 2%. People who survive are usually in wheelchairs and at home or in an institution. Their face and vision do not recover, and they require constant care. Then there is you, and we don’t know how you came out this way.'”
Diane, who will be driving again from July 2024, is also working on several projects. She laughs: “I think a good title for my autobiography would be ‘I’m still here!’
Encouraging those in recovery to “take small steps every day”, she adds: “If I can help even one person and show what they can do, it will be worth it.”
To celebrate her 80th birthday, she hopes to visit some of the places on her bucket list in the coming year, such as Egypt, Antarctica, New Zealand and East Africa, where she grew up as her father was an engineer there. And to mark the three-year anniversary of her stroke, she wants to meet Dr. Khan.
She says: “When I was leaving the hospital in Portsmouth, Dr Khan said to me, ‘After you’ve recovered, come back to me and we’ll have a nice chat over a cup of tea.’
Leave a Reply