NHS chef teaches himself to cook again after sudden stroke

Chef Scott Ferguson never thought he would walk again, after a stroke left him paralysed down his left side.

Nearly 3 years later, Scott can not only walk but has gone back to work, re-learned how to cook and made it to the finals for NHS Chef of the Year.

Scott, who has worked as a sous chef at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals for 13 years, was devastated after he suddenly had a stroke while on holiday with his family in the Canary Islands in 2022.

He had enjoyed a perfect family Christmas Day in the sunshine with his wife Samantha and son Josh, age 10. Scott woke up on Boxing Day feeling fine and returned from buying a coffee when he felt a tingling sensation in his nose, had a sharp headache then realised he couldn’t stand up.

His wife Samantha immediately called neighbours to phone an ambulance.

After being rushed to a local hospital in Fuertaventura, Scott was then transferred by air ambulance to the neighbouring island of Gran Canaria, which had a specialist stroke unit in its main hospital.

Scott said: “I was taken for a CT scan, there were lots of nurses and other staff around me and I was in and out of consciousness.

“Then everything went shiny and bright, and the next thing I knew, I was in intensive care. When I woke up, I was paralysed on my left side, I had some damage to my brain and I only had partial sight in my left eye.”

Scott spent 4 weeks in hospital in Gran Canaria before he was transferred back to the UK and to his home town of Watford.

He added: “I didn’t know then what the outcome would be for me. I had to be strapped to a chair, I couldn’t walk or do any of the normal things I had previously done. It took me a long time to process this huge change. I didn’t know how I was going to function at home.”

During rehab after his stroke, Scott then found out he had a hole in his heart, which he would have been born with but had never previously known about.

Following surgery on his heart in October 2023, Scott had a seizure and collapsed while on a bus to his swimming class. Investigations in his local hospital revealed he had epilepsy, for which Scott now takes medication.

After everything Scott had been through, he never thought he would be able to return to work.

He said: “Psychologically, emotionally, physically it was so hard to think about coming back to work. I have no sensation on my left side, so I’d have to be so careful not to slip and cut myself. I knew I would have to find new ways of doing things.”

But a friend and fellow hospital chef spoke to him throughout his recovery and urged him to get himself fit enough to return to work.

Nedko Rusev, chef manager at Guy’s and St Thomas’, said: “I knew we had to get Scott back to the kitchen. He has a very good touch with food. He knows taste and seasoning so well.

"We could adapt Scott's work so he can focus on the things he is very good at, and we could all learn from him.”

After extensive physio and preparation, Scott returned to work full-time in the kitchens at St Thomas’ Hospital in August 2024.

Alongside Scott and Ned’s day job as part of a team preparing food 800 staff and visitors a day in the hospital’s retail kitchen, the pair also prepared for the NHS Chef of the Year competition. Chef Ned won the national competition, with Scott’s support.

Ned said: “Scott has food knowledge that no-one else has. His soups are the best you’ve ever eaten, and so is his pesto.  In the NHS Chef heats, the judges said Scott’s dessert was one of the best they’d seen. We’re always talking about recipes and ideas.

Scott added: “Coming back to work made a big difference for me. It gave me a purpose again.

“I’m grateful to Ned for helping me through all this, and supporting me to come back to work. It breaks my heart that I can’t do everything I did before, but I’m adapting and finding new ways to work. It’s been great.”