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- Lira, who recently celebrated her 44th birthday, says she has learned to be happier as she reflects on life a year since her life-altering stroke.
- The singer suffered a stroke while in Germany for a performance.
- On her road to recovery, she said she had to learn to speak as a child - how to say each letter and form a sentence.
One year after suffering a life-altering stroke, which particularly affected her ability to speak, multi-award-winning singer Lira, real name Lerato Molapo, says she has learned to be happier.
Lira suffered a stroke while in Germany for a performance. News of her health scare was shared on her social media almost a month later, with her team saying she was undergoing treatment led by the "best medical team" available in South Africa.
"In the year that I've needed to learn how to speak – I've enjoyed listening and the silence," she wrote as she reflected on the past year's journey. "I've learnt to be happier. I've learnt to enjoy the simple things."
On the road to recovery, the Soul In Mind hitmaker said she had to learn to speak as a child – how to say each letter and form a sentence.
"I did so joyfully, though; I had no anxiety, no stress – just peace and calm," she continued. "I have made such huge progress, and I gave a speech at my birthday party. I'm almost there."
The singer celebrated her 44th birthday last week. She said that although she was left unable to work in the past year, she was "left with living life – happily".
Going back to the fateful day when the stroke happened, Lira said she was "so happy" to have been in Germany as it had been three years since she travelled overseas. "I arrived two days before my performance. I walked around, taking in the sights and scenes and the people. I had seen a poster with the @nislandgrenfunkunit featuring Moses and myself. I even saw the venue where we would've performed. I spent the whole afternoon walking."
Lira said she walked into a restaurant but could not speak; she moved her mouth, but the words did not come out. She added that she "just broke down" when she realised it.
"The staff at the restaurant offered me a seat. I couldn't communicate," she said. "I thought about asking them the direction to my hotel; it was nearby – I couldn't communicate that. Once I stopped crying and got myself together, I left. It took me 2 hours to find my hotel."
She arrived at the hotel at about 7:00 PM and could not communicate with the receptionist, so she took a shower. When she tried to communicate via WhatsApp, she could not type as "the words made absolutely no sense to me."
"I couldn't figure out what the letters meant and how to put them together. I managed to get a hold of someone special to me and got them to understand that I wasn't alright."
READ MORE | Lira says her 'speech healing is very slow' but she's 'doing the best I can to remain sane'
The following day, her agent tried to reach her and sent two people to her room who figured out she couldn't speak. She said the German promoter then came and called an ambulance.
"The paramedics couldn't speak English, and it's only when I got to hospital that I found out that I had a stroke," she continued. "Wow!!! I was shocked. I cried the whole day – and in the morning, I accepted my situation."
Six months into her recovery, Lira was diagnosed with aphasia – a language disorder caused by damage in a specific brain area that controls language expression and comprehension. Upon sharing her diagnosis, she said it was reversible.
