FLORIDA, United States (CMC) – St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr Terrance Drew confirmed Sunday that he had suffered a stroke late last month but that he is recovering well and has since been discharged from a United States hospital.

Drew, 49, was flown to Florida for further medical evaluation on September 2, after initially being hospitalised in the neighbouring French island of Martinique. He was first treated for symptoms including nausea, dizziness, and balance issues, and was admitted to the Joseph N. France General Hospital on August 30.

“I want to thank you for your prayers and well wishes. I first of all want to thank God Almighty for having me here. Without Him, I would not be here. And again, to thank all of the medical practitioners …,” Drew said in an eight-minute broadcast to his twin island Federation.

“After all of the analysis, I suffered a stroke. This stroke was a dissection of one of the arteries in the back of my brain called the vertebral artery, and even though I suffered that stroke, the limitations on my mind and body, those limitations have been well controlled and well managed,” said Drew, himself a medical practitioner.

“I can move all my limbs, speak well. My mentation, my coordination, my intelligence have been well and I am now at the stage where I have left the hospital here in Florida, and I’m now doing rehab, both occupational therapy and IOT as well.”

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The prime minister said his rehabilitation exercises “are going extremely well,” adding, “so at this point in time, I can say, both mentally and psychologically and also physically, I’m doing much better than my ailment [would] suggest.

“And I thank God over and over for his many, many blessings and praise from all those who have been praying for me,” he said.