A healthy 21-year-old paramedic who dreamt of becoming a doctor was left paralysed after suffering a shock stroke that began as a seemingly harmless headache.
Tina Holt, from Queensland Australia, returned home from brunch with a friend one morning in 2016, when she was suddenly hit with the headache.
But minutes later, Ms Holt noticed her body and brain were failing to communicate, and she could not swipe her phone screen to unlock it.
‘My friend, also a paramedic, noticed something was wrong. She asked me to smile. I couldn’t. What seemed unthinkable for two paramedics was actually happening — I was having a stroke,’ she told the Stroke Foundation.
She tried to stand and take just two steps before collapsing again.
Unable to speak or move Ms Holt vomited, but despite being conscious her body was not responding.
Her friend immediately called for an ambulance and when paramedics arrived, despite her friend explaining she hadn’t taken any drugs, they gave a provisional diagnosis of a drug overdose.
However, on the way to hospital Ms Holt then lost consciousness and her condition worsened.
When a CT scan revealed a brain bleed, she was urgently helicoptered to the ICU in Brisbane.
Her family was told she might not survive and if she did, there would likely be a lasting impact.
Ms Holt spent the next five days unconscious, the following 10 in ICU, and the next seven months in hospital, where she underwent a series of lifesaving surgeries and procedures.
One procedure involved the installation of a cerebrospinal fluid drain to relieve pressure on her brain. However, the bleed in her brainstem was too extensive for surgery.
For more than three months Ms Holt relied on a feeding tube to survive and she underwent several surgeries, including a procedure to destroy part of the brain that helps control tremor, facial nerve and muscle transfers, and multiple procedures on her left eye.
The stroke left her paralysed on one side, unable to speak, eat, or even move without assistance. She was constantly fatigued and developed a rare tumour on the right side of her face.
‘Tasks like drinking water became incredibly challenging, and I had to relearn how to move, build strength, and regain balance,’ she said.
But the once fit and active young woman admitted that emotionally she faced another battle.
‘My physical limitations were a stark contrast to the person I used to be,’ she said.
‘I had dreams of becoming a doctor after my time as a paramedic, but my stroke changed the course of my future.’
Ms Holt said her rehabilitation is a lifelong process and what she thought would take two years has now taken nine.
Although she is now in a wheelchair, she has pushed herself through intense rehabilitation including training at the gym, and enjoys swimming and cycling.
Speaking to her followers on social media, Ms Holt who goes by @paramedictopatient on Instagram, explained that she didn’t have many signs or symptoms, apart from the headache that struck about five minutes before her stroke.
‘I have been lucky to survive with no cognitive deficits, only physical, but what I love to do is inspire other people, to share their story and also educate other people on stroke, signs and symptoms,’ she said in a video.
‘I also want to challenge preconceived ideas about stroke that it only happens to old people or unfit people,’ she added.
‘Strokes can happen at any age, and mine hit me completely out of the blue.’
Ms Holt’s story comes as the UK sees a significant rise in stroke in young people.
A recent analysis of NHS data revealed that strokes among men aged under 39 have jumped by nearly a quarter over the last two decades.
Life-threatening attacks in women of the same age have risen by one per cent.
A stroke occurs when the blood supply to the brain is cut off, killing brain cells. The damage can lead to long-term disability and affect how people think and feel.
The most common cause is fatty deposits or a blood clot blocking arteries supplying the brain — known as ischaemic stroke.
This happens due to cardiovascular disease, when blood vessels become narrowed or blocked over time by plaques.
These are made of cholesterol, calcium and other substances that build up in the artery walls in a process known as atherosclerosis.
The other type of attack — called hemorrhagic strokes — occurs when a blood vessel bursts in the brain and starts to leak its contents into the organ.
Experts are not quite sure what is behind the surge in young people, but high blood pressure, an unhealthy diet, heavy alcohol use and physical inactivity can increase the risk of stroke.
Strokes are the UK’s fourth biggest killer and a leading cause of disability.
They affect more than 100,000 Brits annually — one every five minutes — claiming 38,000 lives.
The number of people aged 50 to 59 who suffer the potentially fatal condition has risen by 55 per cent in the past 20 years, official data shows.
