‘I’ve learned to play guitar with one arm after a stroke’
Despite a stroke that left him unable to speak or walk, an Inverness man was able to revive his music career by teaching himself to play guitar with one hand.
Tony Romaine spent seven months recovering in hospital Stroke It hit him “out of the blue” two years ago.
The 49-year-old father-of-four was found lying on the sofa by his wife Lynn, unable to move or even cry for help after a blood clot cut off the blood supply to his brain.
However, earlier this year he took to the stage for his first show since the incident, with more shows planned for 2025.
“I couldn’t imagine not making music in my life,” said Tony, who initially couldn’t even swallow after the stroke.
“When people say I might not be able to play again, I don’t listen. Part of me might think ‘I’ll prove you wrong’, but I have to come back and play again.”
Tony has been passionate about music since he was a child and regularly performed around Inverness. In 2022, despite feeling unwell, he forced himself to attend a few shows, not realizing that within days doctors would tell his family to prepare for the worst.
“The day after the show I had a day off, so I sat on the couch and ordered a takeaway.
“When the takeaway got there I found it difficult to move around but I just thought I was tired and not feeling well. I never thought it was going to be a stroke.
“When everyone went to bed, I said I would stay there a little longer and I lay down. The next thing I knew, I couldn’t move at all. I went to yell and then realized I couldn’t or spoke.
“I lay there all night, wide awake, thinking ‘What the hell is going on?'”
“I might not be here tomorrow”
Early the next morning, Tony’s wife Lynn came downstairs, found her husband and called an ambulance.
However, doctors said they could do nothing to break up the brainstem clot that caused the stroke.
“The day I went in, my family was told I might not be here tomorrow. I had trouble breathing and had tubes going in and out of my body.”
The stroke was so severe that Tony had to be fed through a tube for several weeks while he was cared for at Inverness Hospital. Ragmore Hospitalfirst in the ICU and then in the stroke ward.
He then moved to RNI Community Hospital where he received treatment for a further five months. Rehabilitation and physiotherapy.
Although the initial goal was just to help Tony walk again, he was already thinking about how to play the guitar.
“The first thing the physiotherapist said to me was that she just wanted me to sit up. I said to them ‘I don’t know what to do’ so she helped me and eventually I managed to sit on the edge of the bed. ,” he said.
“That’s how it started. But honestly, from the first day in the hospital I was thinking about music.
“I had a lot of things going on in my head, but I was thinking I had to cancel the show and I was trying to figure out what I was going to do.”
Progress was slow at times, and Tony recalls being told how his brain needed to be “taught” that his legs were still there and working.
As he continued to improve physically, he was able to try playing guitar again, despite losing the movement of his left hand and arm.
“I didn’t know what to do,” he recalled.
“It’s not like I could go to a guitar teacher, but once I master some techniques I can practice them and it’s easier.”
The first song he learned again was Eleanor Rigby, The Beatleswith a streamlined arrangement to make it easier for him.
He could look to former Orange Juice singer Edywn Collins for inspiration. Stroke due to cerebral hemorrhage in 2005 But then it came back to performing and making music.
Soon Tony was not only relearning old songs, but also working on new ones, and in August, the song “Standing Stone” was released on the streaming service.
The same month he achieved another milestone when he performed for the first time in two years, performing for 30 minutes on stage at the Rose Street Foundry in Inverness.
“I was really exhausted,” he recalled.
“Eventually I stood up from the wheelchair with shaky legs. But my stamina keeps growing – I’m hoping to do an hour and a half, maybe split into two sets of 45 minutes each, to be ready for my next session Get ready.” ”
Charitable support
These upcoming shows will also be aimed at helping others.
he hopes to raise funds Scottish Chest Heart and Stroke His next gig at Tooth and Claws in Inverness will benefit after they helped him recover from a stroke over the next few months. oxygen plant Charity in the city.
“When I was in the hospital, I saw people giving up, and it made me very sad,” he explained.
“I understand it’s a scary thing to go through, but I don’t want anyone to give up — I want people to know you can get through it.”