World Stroke Day will be marked on Thursday (29th October) and Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke (NICHS) is using the day to put a spotlight on this serious, often life changing, condition.
Claire Stewart, from Anahilt, County Down, had a stroke at the age of just 39 in March 2024. She is speaking out in support of our work on World Stroke Day, after fundraising for the charity by doing an abseil in June, and to raise stroke awareness, especially amongst younger people.
Claire explains; “The day I had my stroke was just a normal day. I went to work, met friends that evening for indoor climbing, came home, had dinner, prepped for work the next day, then went to bed. I was sitting on the bed talking to my husband, Moray, when I started to feel extremely dizzy and had a pain down the middle of my forehead. I fell backwards, couldn't move, couldn’t speak and then started vomiting. I couldn’t respond to my husband, so he phoned an ambulance.”
“I couldn't really speak or move but I wanted to be downstairs in case our children would wake up if the ambulance crew had to come up to the bedroom. My husband had to more or less drag me down the stairs as I had become a completely dead weight. I was still vomiting but he managed to get me down to the living room and onto the sofa where I couldn't hold myself up at all. I was just hanging off the sofa vomiting. It was terrifying.”
“The ambulance arrived about an hour later and I was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital where a stroke assessment was started as the paramedics had noted my arm and leg weakness, inability to speak, as well as my history of migraines. I suffered from extreme migraines from the age of about 9. I would experience numbness and tingling in my hands, my vision would become impaired, I would lose my speech, get dizzy and vomit. This continued all through my life and obviously had a massive detrimental impact on so much including work, being able to take up new opportunities, juggling the demands of everyday life, because when I had a migraine, I lost the ability to do anything, it was horrendous.”
“My husband was able to tell the medical staff I wasn’t having a migraine because this was totally different to anything I had experienced before but they were initially putting it down to migraine. It was very frustrating and frightening when we knew it wasn’t a migraine, that something even more sinister was happening.”
“We tried to explain, and at this stage my speech was still not good so I was just trying my best, that when I had a migraine it took time to come on. All the symptoms I described earlier would start about half an hour before the actual headache. On this occasion however it was instant dizziness, falling backwards, not being able to speak, a pain in my head, and then vomiting within a few minutes. This was completely different to my migraines, and we tried to stress that, but it wasn’t taken onboard at first. I eventually saw the Stroke Consultant around 3.30am and was diagnosed with the stroke at 4am. I was given thrombolysis, a clot-busting medication to break down blood clots, an hour later.”
Claire continues; “The thrombolysis caused the clot to migrate and my symptoms to deteriorate however so I then had to undergo thrombectomy, a specialist procedure used to remove a blood clot from a blocked artery in the brain.”
“After I came round from the operation my speech had thankfully returned but it was slow and word finding was extremely difficult. I also had vision loss and my mobility wasn’t great. I had to work on my walking and had a lot of physiotherapy. I was discharged after eight days and continued to have occupational and physiotherapy at home whilst I worked on my recovery.”
“The effects weren’t just physical however; the mental impact was huge. I was only 39, I was fit, used to play rugby for Ulster, I wasn’t overweight, didn’t smoke. I couldn’t understand how this had happened to me. Long-term the impacts for me have been vision loss and my cognitive processing speed is slow. I get sensory overload. I'm not good in crowded places.”
“I also can't help but think, if I did not have a history of migraines would I have had the thrombolysis sooner and then not needed the thrombectomy? I have lost a third of my vision in both eyes and I wonder, may that not have happened if a stroke had been diagnosed earlier? I am very fortunate that the Stroke Consultant came in to work when called upon in the early hours, he took control and my treatment changed immediately- for that I am so thankful. I am pleased that thrombectomy has recently become a 24/7 service here as the change that this will make for people is priceless.”
Further tests revealed Claire’s stroke was caused by a patent foramen ovale (PFO), a hole in the heart, which she then had surgery to close. “Since the surgery I have had one small migraine. I have done some research and migraines and PFOs can be linked. I wish I had known that. If the PFO had been picked up earlier there is a chance I might not have had a stroke. I also believe my migraines wouldn't have been as severe and life impacting as they were. I’ve had to mould my life around migraines, and I wonder what could have been.”
“It hasn't been easy, from the debilitating effects of the migraines all my life, to having the stroke, and the lasting impacts of that. Part of me does sometimes think however was it worth it because I no longer get migraines. Would you swap your vision to never have a migraine again? It’s a hard one but the migraines were so bad and impacted everything and I thankfully have only had one since my surgery.”
Talking about sharing her story Claire says; “I want to raise awareness of PFOs and stroke and to encourage others to get checked out and keep pushing if there is something about their health they are not happy about.”
“I try to focus on the fact there are some positives that have come from this. I don't worry about stuff in the same way anymore, my perspective has changed somewhat. I’m working on my Master’s and I’m fitter than I’ve ever been. I’m moving on with my life.”
Ursula Ferguson, Director of Care Services at Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke, explains: “We are incredibly grateful to Claire for sharing her story in support of World Stroke Day and our charity. Having a stroke is a life-changing reality for thousands of people in our local community every year and people may also be surprised to learn that 51% of stroke survivors in Northern Ireland are under 75.”
“Over the past eleven years there has been a 23% increase here in the number of people registered with their GP as having had a stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA)¹, often referred to as a mini stroke. This increase is hugely worrying for our charity and we want to use World Stroke Day to remind the public of stroke symptoms and to act FAST if they spot any:
F - Face – is it drooping on one side?
A - Arms – is their arm weakness? Can they be raised?
S - Speech - is it slurred?
T - Time to get to hospital as soon as possible.
“As Claire’s story shows however there are other symptoms to be aware of, and it is important these are not discounted. Other symptoms of stroke can include problems with balance and coordination, sudden loss of vision, numbness down one side of the body, communication problems in understanding speech, difficulty swallowing and sudden severe headache. If any of these symptoms are experienced, it is important to also seek medical attention as soon as possible.”
“It is estimated that up to 1.9 million brain cells can die every minute when someone has a stroke², which is why the sooner a potential stroke is recognised, and the faster medical help is sought, the better the chances of one, survival, and two, reducing the potential long-term effects of a stroke are.”
If you have been affected by stroke visit https://nichs.org.uk/strokesupport for further information about NICHS’s stroke support services.
