FOUR weeks ago, Trish Woodcock was chatting to a friend over the phone when she noticed she was finding it increasingly difficult to hear the conversation.

The morning had begun like any other. Trish, 64, a former teacher, was at her home in Riccall, near Selby. Her husband had gone out for a walk and, despite waking up feeling “a bit of”, there was nothing to suggest that by the afternoon she would be undergoing emergency treatment to save her mind and body from potentially devastating damage.

She said: “While I was on the phone to a friend, I noticed that she was becoming more and more distant. It was as though she was becoming miles and miles away, so I said ‘I’m going to have to go’ and I put the phone down.

“She was concerned about me so she kept ringing me back, but I couldn’t even answer the phone.”

Although she didn’t realise it at the time, Trish had suffered a stroke, leaving her unable to speak and barely able to stand.

She decided the best thing to do was to get out of the house. However, things were about to get worse and a horrific fall at her back door saw her injure a vertebrae in her spine.

“I crawled up to the kerb and just lay there groaning because I couldn’t speak. Eventually a neighbour saw me and realised what had happened.”

A former pupil who lived nearby was also able to keep Trish talking until the ambulance arrived.

“I remember the ambulance arriving but the next thing I remember is having a scan in hospital and someone measuring me. I was terrified because I thought they were measuring me for a coffin.”

What was actually happening was a race against time by medics at the hospital to see if Trish was suitable for a relatively new treatment – one which has had dramatic effects for stroke sufferers.

Alteplase is a clot-busting drug which must be administered within four-and-a-half hours after a stroke.

It can only be given following rigorous checks and tests by a trained physician. In 2008, it was given to only seven patients at York Hospital; this year staff there have just treated their 100th patient with the wonder drug.

However, the treatment is only available between 8am and 5pm, the problem being having enough stroke physicians available to administer the drug, funding and the fact that if someone has a stroke during their sleep, it may be outside of the four-and-half hour maximum until they get to hospital.

Carol Croser, advanced nurse specialist at York, said: “We have saved lives and reduced significant disability. You give the drug and you can see people make a significant recovery. But the sooner you give the drug the better.”

For Trish, the effects were remarkable. Where once she could have expected months of rehabilitation and the uncertainty of whether she would ever regain her speech, she was out of hospital within days.

“It happened at 9.45am and by the next morning I was phoning my husband telling him there was washing in the machine at home which needed taking out,” she said.

“There are no words to describe how grateful I am – it’s amazing, and the hospital staff have been great.”

Another patient, Michael Mortimer, 65, of Hemingbrough, suffered a stroke two weeks ago, shortly after getting out of bed.

He was found by paramedics on the floor of his landing after his wife, Anne, dialled 999.

“It was very worrying,” he said. “You think of all the things you have done before and might not be able to do again. I knew it was serious.”

Like Trish, Michael made it to hospital within the magic four-and-a-half hours and was given the Alteplase.

Despite losing complete use of the right side of his body, Michael is now well on the way to recovery.

“People think I’m a fraud because within a couple of days things started to come back,” he said. “It’s amazing how the recovery is going.”

Consultant John Coyle, a stroke specialist at York, said: “Alteplaso has been around for a long time, but it’s really only been in use in the last four years in the UK.

“Now it’s something that is available at all hospitals – or should be.

“In some people we have treated they are discharged in a week and fully rehabilitated. You can see people improving before your eyes.”

• Both Michael and Trish asked us to thank the staff at York Hospital.