Stroke took my voice and love helped me find it

By Jasmine West

At 25, I was busy loving life. My boyfriend and I were living in a regional coastal town, having fun. Then our lives changed in an instant. I had a stroke.

The day started like any other, I was at work putting stock away when suddenly I felt very faint.  Knowing I wouldn’t be found where I was I stumbled to the entrance of the staff room where I collapsed. 

My colleagues found me and I was taken to the local hospital straight away. The hospital said my balance issues were from vertigo and sent me home. I still didn’t feel great but I went home and laid down hoping it would pass.  Later that night I started to feel very strange, I tried to get up but I couldn’t walk. My boyfriend knew something was seriously wrong, he carried me to the car and raced me back to the hospital emergency department. We waited to be seen and all the while I was getting worse and worse. It seemed like my paralysis was spreading. I still couldn’t walk, then I couldn’t move my arms, my hands, I couldn’t talk. What was happening to me? 

It took more than a day for the doctors to diagnose my stroke. It was such a shock for everyone, no-one expects a young person to have a stroke but they do.

I was taken to the nearest capital city and placed on life-support. The stroke had left me with locked-in-syndrome, a very rare neurological condition where I couldn’t move or speak. I was aware of what was going on around me but I could not communicate with anyone. The only movement I could control was my eyes. I was fully paralysed and I was 25 years old. 

For three-months I lay in a hospital bed, unable to move. The doctors had put in a ‘tracky’ (tracheostomy) because I needed help to breathe. I was terrified and I was alone. The hospital in our town didn’t have the services to look after me so I needed to stay in the city. My boyfriend would drive the 3 1/2 hours each way on the weekends to see and sit with me but during the week he had to work. This was not the life we have planned.

Finally after months of trying, my body started to move. Slowly I started to be able to wiggle my fingers, my toes, bit by bit with an almighty effort my movements became more pronounced. My tracky was removed and when my throat healed I was able to eat pureed food. 

My voice was the very last part of me to come back. It was awesome when I was able to say a garbled hello to my boyfriend and tell him how much I missed him and loved him. It was the best day to finally hear the sound of my own voice again and it’s a memory that I treasure every day.

I spent another two months in hospital re-learning how to walk, talk and eat. Things we all take for granted were a huge challenge for me and my boyfriend has been my carer, confidant and fought beside me every step of the way.

Now, just over a year later I can walk with only a walking stick and I try to do everything independently. I can cook, clean, do washing and I am learning how to drive.

I am so proud of my little family, me my boyfriend and our two dogs. I know we can face anything together.