Woman reveals how she had to learn to talk and walk again at 22 after suffering a massive stroke
Fit and healthy young woman suffers a catastrophic STROKE at just 22 and is forced to learn to talk and walk again – here are the signs you could be at risk too
- Stephanie Ho was just 22 when she suffered from a catastrophic stroke
- The young woman says she was ‘the poster child’ when it came to symptoms
- But because she wasn’t aware of signs it took over 30 minutes to call for help
- 12 years on she still suffers from the effects of her stroke including fatigue
- Her father recently suffered a stroke too, his due to an irregular heartbeat
- The Heart Research Institute believe smart watches could detect these strokes
Stephanie Ho, 34, was just 22 when she suffered from a catastrophic stroke caused by arteriovenous malformation
‘Aghshply de splugh.'(Good morning mum).
What the?
That was weird, let’s try again. ‘Aghshply.’ (Morning!)
Panic.
Stephanie Ho was just 22 years old when she suffered a catastrophic stroke which left her unable to walk or talk.
Speaking to FEMAIL the now 34-year-old, from Sydney, explained her speech was the first thing ‘to go’ and immediately sent her into panic mode one morning 12 years ago.
‘Mum hadn’t really noticed anything was wrong, she was lost in the hub-bub of the morning,’ Stephanie recalled.
But the moment the words in her head failed to meet her mouth the university graduate and finance and IT worker knew something was terribly wrong.
‘Each time I tried to speak it was just gobbldygook. Nothing but weird sounds,’ she said.
It was the weekend, so her brother was home.
She ran downstairs to tell him something was wrong.
But the same thing came out: ‘Arga-shh-ruup,’ she said, terrified.
Her brother was completely puzzled by his sister’s behaviour. She tried to type a message on his computer when her symptoms escalated.
But she couldn’t use her right hand, in fact her whole right side was becoming paralysed.
‘The right hand side of my face collapsed. The bleed was getting bigger and bigger. My motor function was eradicated and I collapsed,’ she said.
Her brother Googled the symptoms and realised he had just watched on as his sister suffered a major stroke.
The young woman has ‘every common symptom’ of stroke but because she and her family didn’t know the signs it took more than 30 minutes to call for help
By the time the young woman was taken to hospital a lot of damage had been done – she couldn’t walk, talk or even swallow on her own
It took 30 minutes from the moment Stephanie woke up that morning and discovered she couldn’t speak to the moment she collapsed and was rushed to emergency.
Time is critical for people having a stroke. Every minute the symptoms go untreated more damage is done.
Stephanie remembers ‘drifting in an out of consciousness’ and ‘feeling really cold’ but is still shocked she felt ‘no pain’.
A CT scan and MRI confirmed the medical emergency.
‘I knew the word stroke, but I didn’t know what it meant,’ she said, describing the event as ‘all encompassing and profound’.
‘Most people say they are physical. And they are but they are so much more than that. It took my identity, everything I had taken for granted and the future I saw for myself.
‘You are left to start 100 per cent from ground zero.’
Stephanie spent three months recovering in hospital.
She couldn’t walk, talk or use her upper limbs. She couldn’t read or write. She was partially blind and she couldn’t swallow.
‘It is so much more than the obvious stuff. when you have to think about how to swallow, something that comes so naturally. Recovery was cruel and arduous,’ she said.
Now Stephanie understands all strokes are different, they can effect different parts of the brain and cause different long-term effects.
She, pictured here with friends, lives an independent life now but says rehab became her full time job for two years – with her family stopping their lives to support her
‘I am really lucky that I had my feedback ability in tact. It made it possible for me to re-learn how to speak and write,’ she said.
Lessons were gruelling, she had to learn the alphabet again, going through each letter sound by sound like a toddler.
‘Having feedback meant I was able to work out what wasn’t quite right and tweak it until it sounded the same,’ she said.
Stephanie said she was desperate to regain independence and to build a life following her stroke.
Her mother, father and brother put their lives on hold to help her get better.
‘Mum quit her job to become my full-time secretary. She worked out what help I was entitled to and got it. Organised all of my appointments,’ she said.
‘Dad became my taxi driver and personal chef and did everything he could to improve every aspect of my health.
Stephanie said she knew of strokes but didn’t understand the true meaning of the word
‘My brother paused his PHD so he could help with my physical therapy.’
The Ho family home has two storeys – making it very difficult for Stephanie to navigate post stroke. But also forcing her to get stronger, faster.
‘Getting better became my full-time job, and I had three full-time helpers. It is baffling how people do it on their own.’
It took Stephanie two years of full-time rehab before she could return to the workforce and gain some semblance of independence.
She abandoned her plans of working in finance and IT and was able to secure a job with the same company in the corporate social responsibility team.
Five years after the stroke she moved out of home for the first time, with her now ex-partner.
‘It was a big test to see how I would go looking after my self. It was a great and important learning curve,’ she said.
‘I became better at making changes in my life to make things easier. For example I now wear my hair short because it is easier to manage.’
She is now working with the stroke foundation to raise awareness of the signs
Stephanie is speaking out about stroke and the importance of knowing the signs weeks after her father suffered one of his own.
‘If anyone could have seen me at the time I was having mine then they would see I was the poster child of stroke. I had all the symptoms but we just didn’t recognise them,’ she said.
Her family were quick to identify her father’s emergency.
‘He had double vision, my mum asked him to sit down and when he did she saw a slight droop in his face and took him to the hospital,’ Stephanie said.
The 75-year-old is currently in hospital, having suffered a stroke due to atrial fibrillation, a different kind to the one his daughter had which was arteriovenous malformation.
‘We are beyond heartbroken. Now it is my time to be chef and driver,’ she said.
Twelve years on and Stephanie still suffers from bouts of fatigue, some physical challenges and frustration with her inability to ‘find words quickly’.