Friends play same guitar together - watch video
Two hands are always better than one!
Dave Brand and Les Payne know all about lending a friend a hand with their own unique way of playing the guitar.
Both have been hit by strokes – with Dave losing the feeling in the left hand side of his body while Les has lost the use of his right side.
So the music-loving pair doubled up – to roll back the years using just their good hands.
Dave, 59, a retired teacher, suffered his stroke four years ago. He said: "Stroke is like a bereavement as you lose something. I have lost the ability to play the guitar on my own. But Les and I have realised we can play together and have some fun.
"Although we do not get the same musical satisfaction that we did before, it is a bit of a giggle and shows life goes on after a stroke."
Les, 61, was in country band Stroller for 20 years and now plays the drums one-handed for Desert Wind. Life is not all doom and gloom after a stroke," he said. "And it's important to keep your sense of humour."
Dave, from Fulwood, met Les, who is a professional country music artist, while at the Royal Preston Hospital. He had been admitted after falling ill while shopping at Asda in Fulwood.
He said: "I suddenly started feeling disorientated and couldn't remember where the checkouts were. When I went outside, I couldn't find my car and was wandering around in a state of panic and confusion. I knew something was wrong but didn't know what was happening."
Dave, who is married to Pat and has two children, was taken to the Royal Preston Hospital where it emerged he had suffered a stroke.
He deteriorated and had a bleed in the brain and needed surgery. He spent the next few weeks in a coma before starting rehabilitation.
Dave has weakness down his left side and he has no feeling in his left hand.
Les, of Lostock Hall, near Preston, suffered a stroke while on his way to a gig and has been left with right-sided weakness, which affected his speech.
Dave and Les instantly hit it off and found they had the same sense of humour and love of music.
Dave, who is now a magistrate, set up a Preston support group for people affected by strokes called Different Strokes. The group supports people who have suffered strokes and their families and is now celebrating its first anniversary.
To mark the occasion, Dave and Les will be putting on a special guitar performance for the group with Dave using his left hand and Les his right.
* Preston Different Strokes meets every fortnight at Fulwood Leisure Centre. For details, call Dave Brand on: 07731 531208.
>> Vote in our latest web poll
Email to a friend
Print this page - Popular
- Most comments
- Most shared
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Local pages
Looking for a...
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Preston
Thursday 29 July 2010
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 15 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 28 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 15 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: South
