Deadly clot a stroke of bad luck
April Farragher, was just 16 and at a sleepover at her best friend’s house when she suddenly collapsed, unable to feel her body, speak or move.
A blood clot had formed in her body and travelled to her brain, cutting off its blood supply and causing a stroke. Within hours April was in hospital having emergency surgery to remove the clot and save her life.
“I blacked out and my friend Harriet told her dad, who called my dad. Dad was only five minutes away and came and carried me to the car and I was at hospital in 10 minutes,” April said.
“After many tests, it was eventually found my stroke was caused by a very small hole in my heart and I also have a genetic blood clotting disorder. Both of these conditions are very common individually and rarely cause problems, but I was unlucky and had both,” she said.
April is just one of the thousands of Australians each year who have a stroke caused by a blood clot. Today is World Thrombosis Day, and the Stroke Foundation is calling for better recognition and treatment of strokes caused by deadly blood clots.
Stroke Foundation Executive Director of Stroke Services Toni Aslett said the most common type of stroke was a blood clot in the brain (ischaemic stroke).
“Thankfully there are effective treatments for strokes of this nature – sadly most eligible patients aren’t receiving them,’’ Ms Aslett said.
Ms Aslett said there were more than 50,000 strokes in Australia each year and around 80 percent were ischaemic strokes caused by blood clots.
“Only seven percent of Australian ischaemic stroke patients are being treated with standard clot busting medication and even fewer get access to ground-breaking clot removal surgery.
“These treatments are proven to significantly reduce rates of disability and even death,’’ she said. “This World Thrombosis Day we are calling on all levels of government to step up and take stroke seriously.
Too many stroke patients continue to miss out on best-practice care. “April got treatment and today she is thriving. It is a tragedy that many others are missing out,’’ she said.
April, now 22 years old and recently graduated from university, knows she was one of the fortunate survivors.
“Since my stroke I’ve had surgery to have a device inserted into the hole in my heart to ensure that no more blood clots could sneak through and I was put on a low dose aspirin, which I will take for the rest of my life,’’ April said.
“I have returned to horse riding, I have my licence, I have completed three TAFE certificates and a Bachelor of Business at university, and now have a full-time job. “I consider myself very lucky and now live by the motto: Live life like each day is your last and live with no regrets. It is so important that people know the warning signs of stroke – It could save a life. ”
World Thrombosis Day, 13 October 2016 focuses attention on the often overlooked and misunderstood condition of thrombosis, which can lead to life-threatening diseases such as stroke.
With thousands of educational events in countries around the world, World Thrombosis Day shines a global spotlight on thrombosis as an urgent and growing health problem.