Happy New Year — And a PSA about Strokes

Posted by Morrigan Aensland on

It’s now 2022. A New Year and a new start. I’m hoping this year will be better than the last one, but for some, it won’t be. This is a sort of a sombre post, and I apologise for it not being the usual celebratory post you might be expecting, but it is an important message.

A friend of mine (for privacy reasons I won’t give much more detail than this) is a retired nurse. Her daughter had a stroke while in bed. She managed to stand up and make it to the door, but the stroke made her collapse face down onto the floor, and unable to move, as the stroke damaged more of her brain.

The door obviously could not be opened because the daughter’s body was blocking the door. The fire brigade had to be called to gain entry from the window side. The daughter’s muscle control was so compromised by the stroke she could no longer control her bowels or bladder and… well, you can probably guess from that, not to mention the extra time taken meant more of her brain was getting damaged by the stroke.

This happened a few days before Christmas, and already medical staff are limited during the Christmas/New Year period, and now are already are overloaded due to the Pandemic. This was probably the worst time to have any sort of non-covid medical emergency, not that you have a say in the matter.

They are now waiting for doctors to check. The daughter only has movement of her right arm and is constantly crying, understandably. Her life has been permanently changed in a few minutes.

The friend is wracked with guilt for not seeing the stroke signs, even being a retired nurse.

As a PSA, please be alert to the signs of a stroke. This can be remembered easily using the acronym FAST:

F – Face: Is their face drooping on one side? Can they smile?

A – Arms: Can they lift both their arms up above their head and keep them there?

S – Speech: Is their speech slurred? Can they speak clearly? Can they understand what you are saying?

T – Time: Call 999, 911 or whatever emergency service number you use in your country.

More details at Stroke.org: https://www.stroke.org.uk/what-is-stroke/what-are-the-symptoms-of-stroke

I am not asking you to share this. I’m only asking you to read this and be aware. If this saves someone you know from suffering more Stroke damage than is necessary, it is well worth it.