Fundraiser launched for stage performer Melle Stewart after life-threatening stroke

A fundraiser has been set up for stage performer Melle Stewart after she experienced a life-threatening stroke.

The 40-year-old Australia-born performer, who is currently living in London with her husband Ben Lewis, suffered a stroke in June 2021 and lost all movement on the right-hand side of her body as well as her ability to speak.

An ardent and continuing supporter of and advocate of vaccination, Stewart suffered from an extremely rare condition known as Vaccine-Induced Thrombocytopenic Thrombosis (VITT) and spent three weeks in a coma before being released from ICU.

She has now commenced her rehabilitation, learning how to walk, talk and move her right arm and hand, though is expected to be in hospital into 2022.

Due to border restrictions, neither Stewart nor Lewis' Australia-residing families have been able to be with her throughout this ordeal.

The pair have now launched a fundraising appeal to aid Stewart's recovery – especially with regards to physiotherapy, speech and language therapy as well as psychological therapy, plus modifications to their home. Naturally, as performers, neither of them have been able to rely on their main source of income since the ordeal began.

Stewart has appeared in a variety of shows throughout her career, and in 2020 starred in Kiss Me, Kate in Belfast. Other credits include the Menier's Assassins and A Damsel in Distress at Chichester Festival Theatre.

You can support the fund here.