Award-winning singer and songwriter Lira last year suffered a stroke in Germany, ahead of a scheduled show.
The songstress, whose real name is Lerato Molapo, was later diagnosed with aphasia, a language disorder caused by damage in a specific area of the brain that controls language expression and comprehension.
Samsung held a Do What You Can’t event, where they celebrated the strength, brilliance and achievements of women and Lira shared her inspirational story of how she turned her stroke into a “blessing”.
Lira opened up to the women in the room about the events of the day, when she suffered her stroke, about how everything was normal before she experienced a sensation during her walk.
This is not Lira’s first time telling her story, she opened up when she was a guest on The Upside of Failure on Radio 702 hosted by seasoned broadcaster Relebogile Mabotja.
Lira disclosed in the intimate setting how her partner was right by her side, even before travelling to Frankfurt - he video called and calmed her down as she tried to piece together what was going on with her, which felt like a “bad nightmare”.
He was even was at her bedside at the hospital and was allowed to visit her for five hours longer than the hospital visiting hours.
Lira, reflecting on the incident, said that being in hospital and having to recover put in her space of calm and she looks back at the moment as a blessing.
The stroke allowed her to just focus on herself and her recovery and not anything else, like gigs and having risk insurance put her at ease of not having any financial worries.