Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

North-east businessman tells of ‘miraculous’ recovery from stroke

Paul Haggath is back at work after his stroke
Paul Haggath is back at work after his stroke

A north-east businessman has spoken about his “miraculous” recovery from a stroke.

Paul Haggath, owner of the Symposium coffee chain which has branches in Peterhead, Fraserburgh, Crimond and Ellon, suffered a devastating blow five months ago when he collapsed as he was preparing for a day out with his wife Wendy.

She recognised the stroke symptoms, immediately called an ambulance, and her husband was rushed to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

North-east cafe owner recovering after suffering stroke

However, Mr Haggath, who turns 42 later this month, has now battled back to health and has since returned to work.

He said: “I think it has been a blessing. If there was ever a time for me to have a stroke it was the right time. I know that sounds bizarre.

“When they checked my arteries, I was fine so there couldn’t been anything healthwise that was wrong with me.

“If it had been later on life I might have not been so lucky.  I had age on my side.

“My wife’s fast action was also factor in the recovery as she recognised the symptoms from the television adverts.

“You don’t really expect it to happen.  My wife and I are still in disbelief, but we have checked the doctor’s notes and I did have a stroke.”

Mr Haggath was subsequently confined to bed because any kind of physical activity tired him out.

He also grew anxious about seeing people at work and while watching his beloved Peterhead FC.

After a series of tests, medics found a 0.5 inch hole in his heart and he is now awaiting an operation to fix it.

It means he will have to stay on blood thinning medication for the rest of his life.

Mr Haggath said his recovery since January has been “miraculous” and it has also allowed him and his wife, who have four daughters, to rejig their lives.

He added: “I’ve still got the heart operation to go through and the doctors said it is a 1.3cm hole and they should be able to fix it with keyhole surgery.

“We are just waiting for an appointment. But I hope that, once that is done, I will feel better than I’ve ever felt before.

“We’ve taken it as a great opportunity to try and refocus on just what it is we are doing.

“It was a chance to step back and see what was important in life.”