Having a stroke at a younger age has been described as a complex experience that raises specific issues and related serice needs, mainly to do with child care, employment and social life. However, there has been little research into how younger people define what a stroke means for them personally and socially and how they live with it in the long term. This study aims to capture the experience of having had a stroke in people under fifty-five during the first year of their stroke. The purpose is to develop an understanding of the experience and to make this knowledge useful- for other people with this illness, for health care in general- and nursing in particular.