Stroke Transforms Man Into Gifted Artist

By Emily Wither, ABC News London

A disabled man living on state benefits in North West England experienced a stroke of luck after a cerebral hemorrhage rewired his brain, turning him into a gifted artist.

Ken Walters’s life had been in a downward spiral after a freak accident left him wheelchair bound, jobless and depressed. The bad luck continued with two heart attacks and finally a stroke at his home in 2005.

But Ken describes his stroke as “the biggest blessing in disguise he ever could have wished for” after he developed a passion for art, a talent he hadn’t previously processed.

After absently sketching to pass the boredom during his recovery, the former engineer was left baffled at his new talent.  Claiming he hated art in school, Walters declared, “I just had these urges to draw. It was bizarre because before the stroke I’d never been the arty type.”

Speaking to the British press from his home in Lancashire he told the Daily Mail newspaper that his doctor wasn’t surprised, "He told me, following a stroke, your brain usually rewires itself to avoid the damaged bits and often leads to discovering hidden talents."

Ken Walters is now a new man after completely transforming his life, turning his adversity into artistic endeavours. His rough sketches have got him noticed by computer giant Electronic Arts games (EA) who have asked him to design digital dinosaurs for a new educational game on evolution.

This new hobby has already banked him $60,000 which makes a nice change from the small weekly allowance he received from the state.

Ken is thrilled by his new good fortune, “Wherever this new love for art has come from it’s certainly changed my life for ever.”

Ken has also developed his own computer software and now hopes to become a household name around the world as a leading digital artist.