Three young adults after a life-changing stroke
Trauma: My Broken Brain follows Dan, Saskia and Dec through the aftermath of strokes in their twenties. The Channel 4 documentary is produced by Stream Media with support from the Stroke Association and directed by Storm Theunissen. Filmed over seven months, the two-part series follows recovery as a prolonged physical, emotional and social process.
Dan is a professional dancer who must learn to walk again after emergency brain surgery. Saskia's life has been transformed by a severe brain bleed, exhaustion and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Dec suffers a stroke only months into a new relationship and spends weeks in a coma while his family and girlfriend wait for signs of recovery.
The work that continues after survival
The documentary follows Dec through intensive care and rehabilitation at The Walton Centre. Dan undergoes surgery to repair a hole in his skull, while Saskia sets herself an ambitious physical challenge. These separate goals give the series concrete milestones without reducing recovery to a single moment of triumph.
Its later storylines include the psychological and cognitive difficulties that can remain after someone appears to have recovered. Family relationships, personal ambitions and the effort to regain independence sit alongside medical treatment. The three accounts challenge the assumption that stroke belongs only to old age, while keeping the focus on the individual lives that continue after the emergency.
