Walkathon - Walk for Health 2012

About The Walk

Our inaugural Walk For Health will be held simultaneously in major towns across the nation on Sunday, 28 October 2012. Participated by all our eight NASAM Centres across Malaysia and in a spirit of togetherness, we celebrate and honour stroke survivors, caregivers and their families on World Stroke Day.

NASAM is targeting 1,500 participants – stroke survivors, caregivers, friends and supporters of NASAM, and the public – for the Walk For Health event that will also include health check booths, information counters, and health-related activities.

“It is our solidarity march to disseminate vital life-saving information and knowledge about actions and lifestyle behaviours that can effectively avert attacks of stroke. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in most countries, and one of the leading causes of long-term disability. We urge the public to participate in this event and learn the facts about stroke,” emphasises Janet Yeo, Founder Chairman of NASAM.

Nasam's Involvement in World Stroke Day 2012 (WSD2012)

Closer to home, 2012 will also mark NASAM’s participation in the international World Stroke Day on a greater scale, much more than we’ve ever done in previous years. World Stroke Day provides NASAM with an excellent opportunity to increase public awareness of stroke and the availability of prevention measures, treatment and short and long-term care and support for stroke survivors. NASAM joins our international counterparts and friends on WSD2012 in the worldwide fight against stroke, and it is in this spirit of togetherness and oneness that our nationwide centres across Malaysia are joining us in celebrating and honouring stroke survivors, caregivers and their families on World Stroke Day.

Holding firmly to the campaign message of the WSC, NASAM will be holding two key events to celebrate WSD 2012. The first of which is a walkathon themed ‘Walk For Health’, to be held on Sunday, 28 October 2012 and the second is a premiere of a documentary titled ‘Against The Wind’, to be held on Monday, 29 October 2012. This deeply moving film, chronicles over a three year period, the daily struggles and tenacity of eight stroke survivors in continuing with life.

World Stroke Day - The 1 in 6 Campaign

Inception

On World Stroke Day, 29 October 2010, the World Stroke Organization (WSO) and its members worldwide launched its World Stroke Campaign (WSC). Aptly themed ‘1 in 6’ for the years 2010-2012, the campaign sought to bring awareness to today’s critical reality that one in six people worldwide, will be stricken with stroke in their lifetime, AND in every six seconds, someone somewhere, regardless of age and gender, will die of stroke.

The WSC is intended to give public emphasis to the widespread incidence of stroke and it aims to disseminate essential life-saving information and knowledge about actions and lifestyle behaviours that could avert the attacks of stroke. The campaign also serves to provide awareness and educational opportunities to the public on the fundamental need for appropriate and quality long-term care and support for stroke survivors, including the empowerment of stroke care-providers.

The Campaign Message

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in most countries, and is one of the leading causes of long-term disability. It is a disease that attacks 15 million people worldwide every year and claims a life every six seconds. Through the 1 in 6 campaign, WSO members and partners around the world solitarily come together to put forth this simple life-saving message on World Stroke Day.

Do not take chances. One in six people is at risk for stroke – it could be you.

Learn the facts. Save a life today. Act Now!

As part of the campaign, people are asked to commit to six stroke challenges.

• Know your personal risk factors - High blood pressure, diabetes and high blood cholesterol.
• Be physically active and exercise regularly.
• Avoid obesity by keeping to a healthy diet.
• Limit alcohol consumption.
• Avoid cigarette smoke. If you smoke, seek help to stop now.
• Learn to recognise the warning signs of a stroke and how to take action.

Against the Wind - Trailer (Coming Soon)

About the Director and the Film

Wayne Peng is an award-winning director from Taiwan. He has won various Best Director awards at film festivals around the world for his first documentary, Burning Dreams. For his work in television commercials, Wayne has been ranked among the top 14 most awarded directors in the world by The Gunn Report.

Against the Wind is Wayne’s latest documentary. The idea was conceived when Wayne met Janet Yeo, Founder and Chairman of the National Stroke Association of Malaysia, and was deeply moved by the plight of stroke survivors. The film records, over a period of three years with painstaking honesty and heart, the agonising daily struggles of eight of these brave survivors.

Eight stroke survivors
Eight different stories of struggle
Against the Wind

Wayne Peng who spent three years documenting
their ‘ups and downs’, Ended up capturing the human capacity to soar
Against the Wind