Stroke is the third largest killer in Malaysia, after cancer and heart disease, and victims are getting younger and younger.

Universiti Malaya research paper found that about 15 percent of those hit with stroke are aged 45 and under - markedly younger than the median age of 55 to 63.

But there are also many who survive stroke attacks.

One man, who was left in a vegetative state after a stroke eight years ago, tells Humans of Kuala Lumpur about his long journey to recovery.

I was at a bank one morning when I felt a headache and nausea.

I called my friend. He came, and straight away took me to hospital. I was still okay, but the doctor put me in the ward.

I could lie down, go to sleep, and talk. And then, suddenly, that night, I felt deaf. Whatever you said to me I could not hear. And then suddenly my whole body shook. I thought I was about to die. After that I went into a coma. For nine days.

Doctor said I was suffering from brain stem stroke, which means the blood vessel to the head is broken and there’s not enough blood going to my brain, and that 95 percent of patients die.

It’s not the common stroke effect where a person cannot use the left side of their body.

The first year, both sides of my body could not be used. I was like a vegetable. It was horrible. Now I still cannot walk, but I can use my right hand to feed myself.

I wasn’t diabetic. The doctor said that it was because of stress.

I used to do event management because I was in the marketing and branding line for quite some time. But I might not get the same job again, since I’ve been like this for eight years already.

My advice is to do regular check-ups for heart disease and high blood pressure, so that you will know about your stress level.

And maybe it sounds superstitious, but be nice to people. And think of God more. Maybe that can help.

Because with stroke, you don’t know if it’s gonna get you. It’s not like smoking where you know you might get lung disease.

Take care of your heart and mind. Stroke is a silent killer, and can hit anyone.

I want to raise awareness about stroke. Beside the physical problem, there’s also the psychological problem that people don’t see.

You should know about your stress levels. If someone is stressed, they must not reach the level of stress that makes their brain go haywire. It could be things, it could be people. Also heart disease and high blood pressure, you have to control it.

Psychologically, you have less patience, you just feel like getting angry all the time, and you always look at things narrowly.

You should just let things go, especially if you have had a stroke.

The same goes to the caregiver as well. They have to be calm and come to their senses as well.

Let’s say you are taking care of a stroke patient - there will be a time when you will start to feel stressed, have shortness of temper, start to get angry and shout and not realise what you are doing is upsetting the patient.

Stroke patients also go through psychological problems, but caretakers need to be aware of the challenges, too. And taking care of stroke patients is not cheap.

I hope that I can be independent when it comes to certain things, that involves my daily life.

I just want to be independent. Like now I need someone to send me to the toilet.

That’s one of my wishes, to do it on my own.

This story was first published on the HUMANS OF KUALA LUMPUR Facebook page. In this photography project, Mushamir Mustafa takes pictures of random people in Kuala Lumpur, who share with him a story from their lives. It features on Malaysiakini every weekend.