‘IT WAS A REAL SHOCK’
More younger adults having strokes
Amanda Horner was a fit 30-yearold, settling into her role as a new mother and training for her first triathlon, when she suffered her first stroke.
After four days in hospital and a few weeks of therapy, she was almost back to normal.
Then, three years later, she suffered a second stroke.
This time, the stroke was more severe and Horner was hospitalized for 10 weeks.
“I lost my ability to talk and walk and eat. I had some paralysis in my face at the time, no hearing in my right ear,” she recalls now, two years later. “It was hard because, for the first few weeks in the hospital, I watched my body deteriorate ... It was pretty devastating mentally.”
Physiotherapy to regain her speech and mobility took months. By the time Horner recovered, it was time for surgery to repair the abnormal blood vessels in her brain that caused the strokes in the first place. Nearly 18 months later, she’s still getting physical therapy to be able to move as well in her body as she once did.
Horner is one of a growing number of young people having strokes. According to a new Heart and Stroke Foundation report released Wednesday, the incidence of stroke in people aged 20 to 59 is rising at a faster rate than it is in older adults. Nineteen per cent of people admitted to hospitals in Canada for stroke are between the ages of 20 and 59. Although the causes of stroke are not always known, the report notes that risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes and unhealthy lifestyles are becoming more prevalent in young adults.
Young people who have a stroke face “distinct challenges,” the report says. Strokes in young adults can be misdiagnosed because people don’t expect young people to suffer strokes and this can result in delayed treatment. Some young stroke survivors also face challenges older survivors do not — including continuing to drive, work, go to school and raise a family while balancing demanding therapy requirements.
“It was a real shock that I was so young and that, for someone who has been taking care of their body, that that can still happen,” Horner said.
She calls herself “lucky.” She has a supportive family who have helped her during rehabilitation, and minding her two children under the age of six is like “doing therapy all (her) waking hours,” she said.
Chasing after the rambunctious youngsters is challenging, but the support they’ve provided is incredible and they motivate her to heal and provide them a life that isn’t centred around her disabilities, she said.
Horner remembers coming home from the hospital on a weekend pass shortly after suffering her second stroke. She asked her then-three-year-old daughter, Emily, to pass her walker. Emily refused.
“Just get up, Mom,” Emily said. “You can do it. Just walk and get it.”
Horner bit back fear and made the shaky journey. She’s never used the walker since.
“She is a little therapist. Whenever I need something and I tell her I can’t, she usually tells me I can,” she says.
Since her surgery, Horner has returned to the pool to do aquacise, but is not yet at a point where she can resume training for a triathlon. She doesn’t know if she will ever compete in a triathlon, but she’d like to be able to get to a point where she can once again run, swim and bike to stay fit.
“Some day, I’d definitely like to be back to where I was.”