A mother who thought she had a bad hangover ended up fighting for her life in the hospital.
Francesa Murray, 45, was partying with a group of friends and when she woke up in the morning she thought nothing of her “grogginess”.
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The mother of two said: “It was supposed to be my friend Natasha Flynn’s wedding but she canceled due to Covid, and 30 of us went to Kerry in June 2020 to celebrate anyway.
“We had a session at her home in Ventry and went to bed. I got up, feeling a bit drowsy and decided to take a painkiller and went back to bed.
“Getting sick even a short time later was no different than a bad hangover.”
It wasn’t until the Dublin hairdresser started speaking her words that childhood friend Natasha started to worry.
The nurse called 999 and Francesa was flown by a Coast Guard crew to Cork University Hospital (CUH).
Then it was discovered that Francesa had indeed suffered a stroke.
She said: “I couldn’t speak, I had paralysis on the right side and couldn’t move, I couldn’t swallow, had to be spoon-fed and had a catheter in.
“I remember the doctors around the bed saying I had had a stroke. It was horrible.”
More than 100,000 people have a stroke in the UK each year, and those over 55 are more at risk.
However, one in four occurs in younger people.
Francesa’s stroke was so severe that she spent a month with stroke and physical therapy teams learning to walk, undergo speech therapy and restore her vision.
Francesa said: “I don’t think I understood the gravity of it. They let me walk from one end of the bed to the other and then to the hallway. I could only walk a few steps before resting.
“Losing my peripheral vision meant that instead of walking straight, I would walk to the right.”
She was then transferred to St James’s in Dublin and now relies solely on medicine as part of her recovery.
The ordeal has given Francesa a “very different outlook on life”.
She’s gone from managing just a few steps in her hospital room to signing up for a 10K charity marathon next month.
Francesa said: “I’m almost there. Now it’s like working on myself, I joined a gym and I’m reclaiming my life.
“You have to remember how lucky you are every day.
“I decided to do the mini-marathon on June 5 to raise money for CUH Charity because CUH are the ones who helped me get back on my feet.”
Glen Arrigan, one of Ms. Murray’s clinical nurse practitioners at CUH, who sees more than 600 stroke patients a year, described her recovery as “incredible.”
“What she has accomplished in the past two years is an incredible story and we need to hear more stories from people like Fran,” said Arrigan.
“Courage, courage, resilience; she managed to get through this frustrating and uncertain time and came out on the other side.
“Hopefully by telling her story, it will raise awareness about stroke and reduce the risk of it happening to someone else.”
You can support Francesa’s fundraiser by clicking here.
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What is a stroke and what are the symptoms?
A stroke is a life-threatening brain attack that occurs when the blood supply to part of your brain is cut off – without blood, the cells in your brain can be killed or damaged.
It can have different effects depending on where in the brain this damage occurs.
It can change how you think and feel and cause speech problems or weakness on one side.
For some, the effects of a stroke can be relatively minor and fade quickly, but others can develop problems that make them dependent on other people.
About one in eight people who have a stroke die within 30 days, so it’s vital to get medical help as soon as possible – the sooner a person is treated, the more likely he or she will survive.
The FAST method — which stands for Face, Arms, Speech, Time — is the easiest way to remember the most common stroke symptoms:
F = Face drooping – if one side of a person’s face falls or is numb, ask them to smile, if it is uneven, get help.
A = Arm weakness – if one arm is weak or numb, ask the person to raise both arms. If an arm floats down, you may need help
S = Speech difficulties – if a person’s speech is slurred, it could be a sign of a stroke
T = Time to call 999 – if a person has the above signs, you should call 999 in the UK or 911 in the US for emergency care.
Other symptoms include:
- sudden weakness or numbness on one side of the body
- difficulty finding words
- sudden blurred vision or loss of vision
- sudden confusion, dizziness or instability
- a sudden and severe headache
- difficulty understanding what others are saying
- Difficulty swallowing