Gloria Hunniford's husband Stephen Wray left partially blind after second stroke

23 May 2023 , 20:04

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Gloria and Stephen at the flower show (Image: Richard Young/REX/Shutterstock)

Gloria Hunniford ’s husband has left been partially blind in his right eye after suffering a second stroke.

Gloria, 83, was at the Chelsea Flower Show with Stephen Wray on Monday, just four weeks after his stroke.

Stephen, 78, said: “I woke up in the morning and there was blood in the eye and that was it. I can see a little but not that good.” He said the vision in that eye was not expected to return.

Explaining the blood vessel injury, he added: “It is from the heart to the eye, and then from the eye to the brain, so it is damaged. It is the first time I have had something like this with the eye.

“I had to go to hospital – then Northfield [Hospital, West London] and then neurology but thankfully it was not a long wait at A&E. I just went straight through. I am coping OK with it all. It’s fine but just disorientating.”

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Gloria has previously thanked the NHS for saving her husband's life (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

In 2020, Gloria praised the NHS for saving her husband’s life. He was involved in a taxi accident in 2019, leaving the base of his spine fractured.

In 2004, Stephen had a heart attack and in 2012 he had his first stroke.

He had been working in the garden, when he stumbled inside.

Gloria said previously: “He said something about the garden to me, he told me there was something the matter with his left arm and said it was like cotton wool and he had no control over it.”

Stephen was rushed to hospital where he was treated with thrombolysis to break down blood clots.

Gloria added of that day: “When I went in and saw him it was such a shock, it was my first experience of seeing stroke. I was so deeply affected by that.

“He didn’t seem able to speak properly, wasn’t able to move properly but nevertheless his fighting spirit was there.”

Gloria has since praised the NHS saying: “I even wrote to the administrator of Pembury hospital [in Kent] to say a big thank you.”

The couple wed in Kent in 1998, and have five children from previous marriages.

Ashleigh Rainbird