Katherine Jafari is a volunteer with the Stroke Foundation & she came along to tell us about strokes. There are two types: Ischemic (caused by blocked arteries) and Haemorrhagic (caused by bleeding). The signs that someone is having a stroke are summarised in the acronym FAST – Face, has their face dropped; Arms, can they lift both arms; Speech, is their speech slurred and do they understand you; Time, is critical so call 000 if you suspect that something is wrong. Patients must be seen by a health professional as a matter of urgency. It’s alarming to discover that in Australia someone suffers from a stroke every 19 minutes, and strokes kill more women than breast cancer and more men than prostate cancer. People aged 54 years or less have a 24% chance of suffering a stroke, and people living in regional areas have a 17% greater chance of having one. There are a number of ways that we can reduce our chances of becoming a stroke victim: Eat well; stay active; avoid alcohol; and quit smoking. We were pleased to learn that Katherine has ties to Rotary because in 1983 she was awarded a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship and came to Perth from Tennessee to do her Masters degree in Educational Psychology. Here she met her future husband and after completing her studies she came back and has now lived here for 42 years. Great to have you on board Katherine!