Rachel Hardy used to love nothing more than going to the gym and enjoying city life with her friends. But her life was turned upside down at the age of 27, when she suffered a terrifying illness.
The now 28-year-old, who lives in Manchester city centre, was working in Derbyshire when she began experiencing a bad headache on January 13.
Believing she was suffering a migraine, she decided to spend the rest of the day working from home. But her condition took a drastic turn during her drive back to Manchester – forcing her to pull over after just 10 minutes in the car.
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“I realised I wasn’t going to be able to continue because I felt so poorly,” she said. “I found somewhere to pull over. I had been driving through the Peak District, so I had very little signal. I rang my friend and my mum and they said I should call 999.”
Rachel was told she needed to find her own way to hospital – but she could barely see. She flagged a passing car down and explained her situation. The kind stranger drove Rachel, who was unable to walk by that point, all the way to Stepping Hill Hospital.
Doctors rushed her for an MRI scan where it was discovered she a massive bleed on her brain which was causing a stroke. Rachel was put into a coma and rushed to Salford Hospital for emergency surgery.
Her mum, who had travelled up from Cambridge to be with her, was given the tragic news that Rachel probably wouldn’t survive the surgery.
But miraculously, the area of the bleed was removed after five hours of surgery and Rachel was brought out of the coma a few days later.
Rachel’s mobility returned extremely quickly – so much so that doctors were happy to allow her to return home with her mum.
But she’s still having to manage lasting effects caused by the stroke, including fatigue, sight loss and aphasia, which is a speech and communication disorder. She has had intensive speech and language therapy and is also learning to read again.
Rachel now wants others to understand the impact stroke can have at such a young age. “I was really passionate about my job and was a very social person,” she said. “I lived with my housemate and our dog and lived a very busy life.
“I was planning on joining a walking group. I was very into the gym and not being able to do everything there now has been a really hard thing in my recovery.”
Rachel says she has also found it hard to process what happened to her and now struggles with poor mental health.
“At first, I was so grateful to be alive and to have survived it,” she said. “But as time went on, I started to think, ‘my God, what on earth has happened?
“Things have been very different with my mental health for a while now. I always did have that background thought of whether it was all because of anything I did, even though it wasn’t. You really question things.
“Socialising has been very difficult during my recovery. There’s been a lot I’ve had to work on which has probably made me less sociable and more anxious doing those things. I’m very much not the ‘life and soul of the party’ anymore but I do have very good friends who have really supported me.”
What are the warning signs of a stroke?
The main stroke symptoms can be remembered with the word F.A.S.T.:
- Face – the face may have dropped on one side, the person may not be able to smile, or their mouth or eye may have drooped.
- Arms – the person with suspected stroke may not be able to lift both arms and keep them there because of weakness or numbness in one arm.
- Speech – their speech may be slurred or garbled, or the person may not be able to talk at all despite appearing to be awake.
- Time – it’s time to dial 999 immediately if you notice any of these signs or symptoms.
Other symptoms and signs may include:
- complete paralysis of one side of the body
- sudden loss or blurring of vision
- dizziness
- confusion
- difficulty understanding what others are saying
- problems with balance and co-ordination
- difficulty swallowing (dysphagia)
- a sudden and very severe headache resulting in a blinding pain unlike anything experienced before
- loss of consciousness
Currently unable to return to work, Rachel is determined to push her recovery further. She is also waiting to have surgery again to reattach her skull following the initial life-saving operation, which she hopes will drastically alleviate the severe nerve pain she currently lives with.
Rachel said: “I’m still relearning a lot of things and working on my reading. I can’t always remember exactly how to spell a word.
“I’m an English graduate, and a social worker I’m used to doing so much reading and writing, so it’s really odd. But it’s still improving. It’s been pretty amazing how quickly I have regained and developed my speech.”
Rachel is now calling for more awareness of the fact stroke can happen to anyone at any age. “Before all this, I didn’t have a clue [that stroke could happen at a young age],” she said.
“Stroke in young people needs to be spoken about much more widely. For me, it felt like there was a stigma around it because I was so worried about people judging me. That is something that was, and sometimes still is, very frustrating.”
There are over 100,000 strokes each year and 1.3 million stroke survivors living in the UK today, with these numbers only set to grow, according the Stroke Association.
With an increasing number of people surviving stroke and an ageing population, by 2035, the number of stroke survivors living in the UK is expected to rise to over 2 million.
The Stroke Association is aiming to raise awareness of the support it provides for stroke survivors of any age across the UK to help rebuild lives and support stroke survivors to achieve their life goals.
Alexis Kolodziej, executive director at the Stroke Association, said: “Our research highlights that people still think stroke is a condition that only affects older people. It’s crucial that we challenge this misconception and make people aware that stroke affects young adults too.
“Stroke simply shouldn’t be a key milestone in a young adult’s life. When planning for the future, no one prepares to have a stroke. Yet one in four strokes happen in people of working age and around 400 children have a stroke in the UK every year.
“After a stroke, life changes in a flash. Two thirds of people who survive a stroke find themselves living with a disability. As a result, young stroke survivors are having important milestones and their planned futures stolen from them, while they have to learn to adapt to their new life affected by stroke.
“At the Stroke Association, we know the value that life after stroke support plays in rebuilding lives. A stroke doesn’t have to stop you from doing the things you want to do. The Stroke Association provides support that covers every aspect of a survivor’s recovery, so you are not just living to survive, but able to live life again.”
Sarah Carter is a health and wellness expert residing in the UK. With a background in healthcare, she offers evidence-based advice on fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being, promoting healthier living for readers.
