Change through lived experience

WHEN Dee Honeychurch’s daughter Emma experienced a stroke in utero, her drive for answers led to her becoming a voice for families undergoing the same thing.

“I didn’t want this to happen to any other family in terms of the lack of information and support,” she said.

Two years later, Ms Honeychurch co-founded Little Stroke Warriors in 2017, an organisation under the Stroke Foundation aimed at raising awareness around how the incident can impact children.

Now being honoured with a Medal of the Order of Australia, she said the accolade acknowledges a coordinated effort.

“To me it means recognition for the collective work being done to the progression of childhood stroke by myself but also the Stroke Foundation, the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, and the Royal Children’s Hospital’s stroke team,” she said.

“It’s an honour I share with a collective group of people that have driven this success and supported me.”

Having experienced family violence during childhood, she has also spent 16 years in the sector, now serving as Grampians Health’s regional manager for family violence.

She said her passions in life have been built upon lived experiences.

“It’s something really underestimated that can bring significant change to someone’s life and quite often what the system is doing is developing pathways without the people they’re actually serving,” she said.

“Responding to injustice is in my everyday. Little Stroke Warriors was absolutely driven for me by the love I have for my daughter and wanting the world to be a better place for her to live in.”