Speaking from the Heart
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 15 May 2026
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Anna was just 25, and newly married living near Oxford when she suffered a massive stroke, caused by a tumour in her heart. It initially left her locked in – unable to let the world around her know that she was even conscious. Mike Wooldridge hears Anna’s extraordinary story: the sheer terror she felt when she realised she was unable to move a muscle or make a sound; the confusion of not knowing where she was and what had happened to her; and the spiritual struggles as Anna, who had been brought up a Christian, became convinced that she must have done something terrible for God to punish her in this way. Gradually, Anna learnt to communicate again and came to realise that God still loved her. Today Anna is playing a healing role in her church community. And she says she thanks God every morning that she’s still alive. This episode of The Documentary, comes to you from Heart and Soul, exploring personal approaches to spirituality from around the world.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts. |
| 0:07.3 | On BBC Sounds, there are podcasts to help you look after your body and your mind. |
| 0:12.7 | From increasing your immunity to feeling more confident. |
| 0:16.6 | Or tips on how to focus. |
| 0:18.5 | Sorry, what will you say? |
| 0:19.7 | If it matters to you, it matters to us. |
| 0:22.6 | Feel good inside of it. |
| 0:24.2 | With What's Up Docs. |
| 0:25.9 | And Complex with Kimberly Wilson. |
| 0:27.9 | Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:34.5 | I couldn't move a muscle or make a sound, although I was screaming inside. |
| 0:40.3 | I tried to hold my head up and failed completely. |
| 0:48.3 | My neck appeared to have lost all its strength, and the back of my head felt as if it had been filled with concrete. |
| 0:57.6 | I decided that I was semi-dead and being experimented on. |
| 1:04.5 | Not a scene from a horror film, the real-life story of Anna, who was newly married and living near Oxford when in 1994 something |
| 1:13.2 | terrifying happened. |
| 1:15.7 | One nurse said, she looks dead. |
| 1:19.5 | Where was God? |
| 1:21.3 | And heaven? |
| 1:23.1 | This is the documentary from the BBC World Service. |
| 1:26.8 | I'm Mike Woldrich. |
| 1:28.3 | In this edition of Heart and Soul, |
... |
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