Michelle’s Story – Stroke due to AVM (arteriovenous malformation) at just 14
- Greg Hollingworth
My name is Michelle and I had a stroke when I was 14; no prior warnings, no pain or weird headaches to let me know something was wrong. I was just sitting in English class and out of nowhere my arms went numb, then my neck and then the rest of my body. I tried to call out but no words came out of my mouth. My head suddenly felt like it was filled with warm liquid, my vision was gone next and then next thing I know I wake up in a hospital.
My mum was panicking when I woke up asking me if I remember who she is, I was really so confused. She said I had a stroke caused by AVM (arteriovenous malformation) on my left side, it caused me to have a non-epileptic seizure after getting sick and talking nonsense, then I was unconscious for 2 days. I needed open brain surgery to remove the AVM and I’m lucky to have my speech and memories and mobility as if nothing happened. I was mind blown. How can someone have a stroke when they are 14?
The surgery was successful, but some of the swelling didn’t come down after weeks, I started getting sick, fainting, having a fever and my mam called an ambulance and said it’s an emergency. I had a brain infection after the surgery and had to have a spinal drain in for a week to get the fluid out of my head.
How I felt after my stroke
I spent three months in the hospital then on antibiotics until they sent me home, ‘healed’ they said.
I was very lucky, some people have it much worse than me, I have migraines now twice a month, lasting 2-3 days but I have learned to live with them for the past 6 years. Other than that I have full mobility, some memory loss every now and then, but mentally I still don’t fully trust my body.
If I had AVM for 14 years and didn’t know, what else could be wrong with me? After the surgery I agreed to have the removed spot sent off to be studied. I have made the decision of donating my body to science when my time comes, so people can learn about people like me.
I literally won a battle with death when I was 14, I survived what some people don’t when I was a child. To me, it was God’s way to tell me I have a purpose in this life, I am now happily married with our first baby on the way.
The date of my stroke haunted me each year, but now it is the day that I am the proudest to be who I am. It is the day I survived. I think everyone post stroke should celebrate the day of their stroke each year, it is their day, don’t let anyone take that from you. I wear my scar on my scalp like a crown. I am living proof that life doesn’t end after a stroke; it is the day your new life begins – make the most of it!
Your donation helps others like Michelle on their journeys
There are 100,000 strokes in the UK each year with 1 in 4 happening to somebody of working age or younger. Different Strokes aims to promote independent stroke recovery and help these younger stroke survivors reclaim their lives.
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