MP who nearly died from brain haemorrhage returns to Commons

An MP who suffered a near-fatal brain haemorrhage has returned to Westminster for the first time in almost two years.

The SNP’s Amy Callaghan collapsed at her home in June 2020 at the age of 28.

She spent four months in hospital and underwent two life-saving surgeries following the stroke.

Callaghan, who was elected as the MP for East Dunbartonshire in 2019, was able to make her first contribution since that time in March 2021 virtually, whilst hybrid proceedings were still in place.

However, hybrid proceedings were scrapped as the pandemic began to subside, which means that MPs are no longer able to contribute remotely.

In an interview ahead of making her physical return to Parliament, Callaghan told the Daily Record that she had been left with no option but to travel to London in order to take part.

But, she insisted that Westminster should have adapted for those with her kind of condition, as she explained that travelling is against doctor’s orders.

Speaking in the Commons during work and pensions questions on Monday afternoon, Callaghan raised issue with the UK’s welfare system, as she told MPs about a constituent she went through her recovery alongside.

After being welcomed back by Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, she said: “In July 2020, I met my constituent Stacey Conlan.

“Not at a constituency surgery, but in PDRU (Physically Disabled Rehabilitation Unit) at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.

“We recovered from our strokes alongside each other and I got to hear her story.

“Too many people like Stacey survive catastrophic life events only to be let down by this Government’s woeful welfare system.

“Unable to work and unable to pay for basic necessities many of us take for granted, will [DWP minister Therese Coffey revisit] the current levels of Universal Credit so that stroke survivors like Stacey can fully live their lives instead of barely getting by?”

Coffey responded: “I’m more than happy for honourable members to find out specifically the example she refers to.

“But I do know that generally we are trying to make sure, as has happened by my honourable friends, that this is the right approach in order to try and make sure that people have that access to work.”