Overview
- Paramedics noted facial droop, slurred speech and swallowing issues, leading to an urgent transfer to Aintree where a CT scan confirmed a stroke.
- Doctors attributed the stroke to a tear in her left coronary artery and administered thrombolysis before she developed sepsis, heart failure and a lung infection.
- She spent five days in intensive care on high-flow oxygen with a nasogastric tube, followed by about three weeks in hospital, and later relearned to walk.
- She now walks unaided but describes ongoing psychological trauma, completed weekly counselling and remains on a Stroke Association waiting list for further support.
- She plans to spend Christmas with family in Northern Ireland and hopes her experience raises awareness as the charity says 85,000 people in the UK face a first Christmas after a stroke this year.