GARRY Oates woke up in the intensive care unit at Monash Medical Centre after a massive stroke to discover he was legally blind, had a drain in his head and had been in a coma for over three weeks.

By rights he should have been dead. But the 58-year-old outer eastern suburbs man is a fighter who lives by the motto “never say die”.

And now the gutsy grandfather has not only landed a job in retail, but has significantly improved his short term memory problems by attending a six week memory group run by Monash University, as a part of a larger project seeking to explore how to improve memory after stroke.

The research, led by Wantirna South Doctoral neuropsychology student Toni Withiel, compares how stroke survivors fare in improving memory loss by learning memory strategies in weekly group meetings or by doing computer memory strengthening exercises.

The research is underway and more participants are needed. It is free.

As many as half of stroke survivors report memory loss, with this cited as a main reason for reduced quality of life.

Stroke statistics from the National Stroke Foundation for 2014 make grim reading with hundreds of thousands of Melbourne residents disabled by strokes and at the risk of having them.

In the Menzies electorate, which covers Manningham, 3215 people were disabled after a stroke, estimated to rise to 6135 in 2050. A whopping 381 strokes occurred in 2014 with over 27,000 living with high blood pressure risk factor

Garry, who owned his own motor mechanic business, returned home from work a few years ago complaining to his wife, Julie, of a splitting headache.

She phoned an ambulance, and he was treated at Monash Medical Centre for a massive stroke caused by a bleed on the brain.

To complicate matters he developed fluid on the brain, so doctors surgically inserted a drain into the side of his head.

The stroke rendered him legally blind. He has limited sight with no peripheral vision so he can’t drive and uses a cane when out in public.

Garry is a fighter: he underwent rehabilitation to cope with his impaired vision, clawed his way back from a massive heart attack brought on by stress, and conquered depression.

But the short term memory loss he battled on a daily basis left him feeling frustrated and anxious.

Garry says the memory group helped enormously in teaching him practical tips on how to remember things.

“Empathy is one thing, chatting to people who live with the same problems I have, is quite another,” he says.

Garry believes the memory coping techniques he has learned have also helped him hold down his sales job at Anaconda.

And he is determined to continue to use his stroke as a reason to achieve — not as an excuse not to: “I’m lucky. I got a second chance at life. Not everybody does.”

To take part in the research email toni.withiel@monash.edu or 0411 729 045