Global Research Firm Curia Announces CHSS as New Charity Partner

Curia is a global research business in drug development. The 120 staff at its Glasgow base have partnered with Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland as their chosen charity for 2023 with a series of fundraising events planned for the year. Curia picked CHSS because staff member Paul Flaherty had two strokes in 2022.

The choice was an easy one when staff at the Glasgow base of multinational research firm Curia were looking for a charity partner. It had to be Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland.

The choice was also a very personal one because their colleague Paul Flaherty was still recovering from stroke, one suffered in May last year, followed by a second in November.

Knowing that all the money they raise for CHSS will stay in Scotland to help those with chest, heart and stroke conditions, the 120 staff at the facility on the West of Scotland Science Park in Maryhill, Glasgow, are gearing up for a year of fundraising.

They have already kicked things off with a Valentine’s Day bake sale with a team signed up to do the Kiltwalk in Glasgow in April and more plans for colleagues to take part in a sponsored cycle round Arran in September.

Paul’s Story

Paul, 48, collapsed at home last May. Just a few weeks earlier he’d been knocked down by someone on an e-scooter as he made his way home after a night out.

Still nursing those injuries, including a broken ankle and broken bones in his right hand, he had just returned home after a haircut when he realised his left arm was hanging uselessly by his side. Realising something was seriously wrong, he called his ex-partner and managed to say a single word: stroke.

He was rushed by ambulance to Glasgow Royal Infirmary before being transferred to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital where doctors carried out a procedure called thrombolysis to remove a blood clot from his brain.

A dad of one, Paul said: “I was very fortunate that I was treated so quickly. I collapsed on a Saturday morning and within two hours, I’d been in two different hospitals, had CT and MRI scans and thrombolysis. Speed made such a difference to my recovery.

“When I was first on the ward, I couldn’t really speak, and I couldn’t move. It was very scary. But within three or four days, the feeling started to come back on my left side. I did some really simple exercises with the physios, and I began to feel a bit of hope because I’d been feeling very down and had given up on myself a little bit.

“My dad had had a small stroke a few months before me. He was 79 and he was in quite a bad way and I didn’t think he was going to pull through. I did some research at that time, so when it happened to me, I did know a little bit about stroke, but it’s a different kettle of fish when it’s you in the hospital bed.”

Paul was beginning to recover well from the first stroke when he suffered a second one, this one affecting his speech rather than his mobility. A scan revealed this stroke had caused some additional damage to the brain, but again Paul has made a good recovery.

He said: “I’ve got a seven-year-old daughter, and we go swimming three times a week and I collect her from school, so I am trying to do the usual things. But there are times when it’s been very frustrating.

“After the first stroke, I didn’t even know I had a daughter. My dad was talking to me about someone called Eden and I had to ask who Eden was. It was strange to find out I had a daughter, and she was six!

“I’m not going to give up. I’m going to keep doing what I can. I know how lonely it can be to be recovering from something like this. I had a lot of support, but I can’t imagine how hard it would be for someone who lives alone or doesn’t have anyone to help them out.

“That’s why I’m so pleased that Curia have chosen Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland because of the work you for people like me.”

Partnering with CHSS

Sophie Watson works in HR with Curia in Glasgow. She said the company’s main aim was to raise as much money as possible for CHSS and to raise awareness of the effects of living with long-term health conditions such as chest, heart and stroke.

She added: “We’ve worked with a few different charities and done some different fundraising events over the years, so we’re looking forward to doing something new in our partnership with CHSS.”

Louise MacLeod, Community, Events and Corporate Fundraiser at Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland commented: “We are delighted that Curia has chosen Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland to be its charity partner for 2023. The team has already committed to taking part in some fantastic activities to raise money for CHSS.

“The support from our fundraising partners like Curia allows us to provide much needed services to the one in five people in Scotland living with chest, heart and stroke conditions so that they can live their lives to the full.  I am excited to develop our partnership throughout the coming year.”

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