It was December 2020. Sharon was 31 years old, outgoing, happy, and living a healthy lifestyle. She had been working in marketing for a tourism company and had just been made redundant due to the pandemic. She was keeping herself busy, about to start in a new role, wrapping Christmas presents and organising a festive meet up with friends.
On the evening of December 10th, Sharon was getting ready to meet friends, when suddenly she felt a strong jabbing pain in the left side of her head. She lay down for half an hour and considered cancelling her plans but being the type of person that is unable to say no, she took a paracetamol and went along thinking “It’s just a bad migraine.”
A few days passed and her “migraine” became more persistent. She put it down to stress. She began to feel nauseous, dizzy, and out of sorts, so she decided it was time to contact her GP. As it was very close to Christmas week, the GP was booked up. They placed her on a cancellation and finally she got a call back on Saturday, December 19th.
When she arrived at the GP clinic on Dec 19th it was suggested that she go to A&E and was given a letter to have a brain scan done as a precaution. Her brother drove her straight to Tallaght Hospital and on the journey there her health began to severely deteriorate. She became violently sick.
When Sharon arrived at the hospital, she tried to register her details at reception, but she was completely incoherent. She could not understand the questions she was being asked, and she didn’t know her own name. She was mixing her words up and slurring her speech. The receptionist saw the FAST signs of stroke and she was immediately taken to triage. Her brother explained what had happened in the car to the triage nurse as Sharon could no longer speak for herself. She had very little understanding of the situation and her ability to communicate was robbed at that point.
As it was during covid her brother couldn’t come any further than triage, so Sharon was alone once she was admitted to A&E. She remembers a nurse asking her a lot of questions. She was unable to answer her, and she recalls being assisted to change into a hospital gown. Her next memory is lying down in a scan machine and hearing voices saying, “Well done Sharon”. She recalls the moment she realised that she had been taken back to A&E after the scan. She lay on a gurney, and she was sobbing due to the excruciating pain in her head and total confusion of what was happening to her. She recalls “covering her head with a bedsheet for what felt like an eternity”.
Sharon remembers being moved to a ward and hearing a hospital porter and nurse chatting, but she was not able to understand them. She was trying so hard to join in their conversation, but her voice no longer worked, all she could do was make helpless weak sounds.
“Thirty-six hours passed that I have very little to no memory of. However, my family have since told me that I was in a critical condition and that I was thrombolysed, my response to the medication was being closely monitored to see if my condition would improve”.
When Sharon woke up, she had wires all over her body and cannulas in her arms, but she still had no idea what was going on. She remembers picking her phone up at one point and seeing lots of messages, but she could no longer read or understand them. She tried, failing numerous times, until she was finally able to manage to take a selfie. She needed to” check that she was still there” and that this was in fact all really happening.
Sharon was petrified. The doctors and nurses were coming and going, but she still could not understand anything they were saying or telling her. She was in denial that she could be sick and was still thinking it would be nothing serious, just a blistering headache. She remembers crying and being hysterical with pain.
There was one patient, soft-spoken doctor who visited her a couple of times and after many attempts, she was somewhat able to understand him. He explained to her that she had suffered a stroke. It did not sink in, she was struggling to fathom all the information he gave her, so she asked him to write down what had happened to her. “Venous Sinus Thrombosis causing Left Temporal Lobe Venous Infarlt (or stroke).”
Sharon had many CTs, MRIs and blood tests done over the next few days and was told she would have to spend Christmas in hospital, but she was too sick to be upset or bothered about that.
Over the next three days, Sharon began to come around and her speech and coherence improved a little. She remembers having a feeling of embarrassment and she did not want anyone to know what had happened. She did not want any sympathy. She was told by her doctor that she had cognitive difficulties and she may never be back to 100%. Sharon started her rehabilitation with the help and support of the stroke team at Tallaght Hospital in the following days. They worked on her speech, physical capabilities, and did some occupational therapy.
Two weeks later, Sharon was released from the hospital, heavily medicated. She depended completely upon her parents and her brother in the early weeks of recovery. She was determined and motivated to get herself stronger and start working on her recovery. She tried to get out of bed most days which was a huge challenge for her. She focused on her speech (with the help of Aphasia Ireland). Now 4 years on, she can see that putting that hard work into her speech during the early days of recovery really paid off and she’s so grateful for that.
Sharon was feeling isolated, and she did not have any family members or friends who knew much about strokes. She had always associated stroke with “older people”. So, she did some research and reached out to the Irish Heart Foundation. That is where she met the Stroke Coordinators who have been an “amazing support” to her to date. She is now a member of the Young Stroke Survivors Network and the Peer-to-Peer Support Group. She has also participated in Personal Fitness Classes to the best of her abilities, and she is an active volunteer. “I needed people who understood my situation to talk to and to support me and I found this sense of connection with the Irish Heart Foundation”.
“As a member of the Young Stroke Survivors Network and the Peer-to-Peer Support Group I have had an opportunity to meet other stroke survivors, take away from the feeling of isolation, share stories and build friendships. I am one of the volunteer Peer Facilitators that run the weekly peer meet ups where young stroke survivors can meet in a local café in an encouraging, informal, social setting”.
Since settling back in at home, she appears to be doing well and making strides in her recovery. However, she often feels trapped in her own head. Her “life has changed dramatically”, her “independence is gone”, and she feels like she has “gone back in time”. She is “no longer employed full time, relying on her parents, and continues to have to re-learn a lot of the simple things” she used to know.
She feels that it must be difficult for people to understand when they see her. You cannot see her brain injury because it is not on display. You cannot see the damage to her brain, or the scar it left. A frustration living with her hidden injury is other people who might not understand and who say things like “sure I forget words all the time”, “I’m forgetful too” or “I get tired all the time as well”.
After a few months of recovery from her stroke, she seemed to do well on the outside, and people commented on her determination and drive to get better. However, in February 2021, Sharon began having mini seizures which meant incidents of losing her speech, ability to read and understand others. Scary too of course, as the symptoms were so like those of her stroke. She was hospitalised after the first seizure, with more scans and tests. She was diagnosed with (PSS) post-stroke seizures. This robbed her of even more of her independence i.e. driving her car, her “me time” walks and even her favourite activity sea swimming. She continued to have some more sporadic minor seizures and grew used to managing them. In July 2021, she had a tonic-clonic seizure which really came as a fright to both her and her family. This led to more hospital admissions and two weeks in the Epilepsy Monitor Unit at Beaumont Hospital. More scans and tests and of course a heightened dose of medication. She has learned since then that PSS can happen in about five percent of stroke survivors. “Just another hurdle for us to overcome” she supposes.
Four years on from her stroke, she is still very dependent on her family. She finds the biggest struggle in her day-to-day life is “chronic fatigue, short-term memory issues, concentration, occupational issues and often word finding”. This fatigue is different from the “it has been a tough week” or “I didn’t sleep too well” tiredness. “It’s a weariness that takes you over at any given time and totally wipes you out, to the point you must give in to it and the only answer is to rest”.
Her neurologist, as well as a lot of the doctors and nurses she’s met on her journey, tell her how lucky she’s been and how important her timing and her arrival to the hospital was. She now tries to make family and friends more aware of the F.A.S.T campaign. Why speed and time is so important in saving lives.
Sharon was approached by the Irish Heart Foundation to see if she would be interested in volunteering with them in an admin role. They created a specific voluntary role for her in the communications department, an area she felt most comfortable in.
“I can use my skills and experience in a work environment before returning to full-time employment. This is beneficial to the Irish Heart Foundation and to me, as they have someone working with them who has the lived experience of stroke, and I can build on my skills and confidence”.
She has been volunteering in this role for the past three years, and it gives her “a sense of routine and normality”. Her “work is recognised and appreciated”, and she “likes being part of a team”. “I am helping to improve services for others through my own lived experience, and I’ve had some great achievements during my time as a volunteer. In 2023 I did a talk on stage at a volunteer conference at the Meta buildings in Dublin which was the first time I publicly shared my stroke story. That year I also won an award for being the Irish Heart Foundation E-volunteer of the year. I have found that being a volunteer is a good way to get involved with a supportive, like-minded community. It allowed me to build on my skills for returning to work, and I feel like I am giving back to an organisation that has supported me”.
As a volunteer, the Irish Heart Foundation offers Sharon ongoing support, guidance, and development of her skill set. They will also provide references of her volunteer work to future employees, and she will have experience working with a national charity. As an Irish Heart Foundation Volunteer, she also has access to an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) for herself and her family, which covers benefits such as counselling and legal advice.
One of the other things she has learned since having a stroke is that “it can happen at any age”. She now tries to highlight to others if they notice something out of the ordinary, such as an ongoing/long-term dense headache – “pay attention to it!” Their body could be trying to warn them that something is wrong.
Sharon is so “grateful to the nurses, doctors, neurologists, and hospital staff at Tallaght Hospital for saving me and giving me a second chance of life”. She is also “ever thankful to the stroke rehabilitation teams, Irish Heart Foundation (particularly Helena Heffernan and Martina Greene) Headway Ireland, Aphasia Ireland, and the fantastic support from my family, particularly my parents, sister and brothers, friends and all those who have helped with my recovery to date”.
The Irish Heart Foundation has offered her “a massive amount of help and support in [her] recovery”. It gave her the opportunity to “build up her confidence, build friendships, feel supported, to advocate for myself, and to share [her] story”. She doesn’t think she would be as strong mentally, and have the confidence that she now has, if she hadn’t connected with the Irish Heart Foundation after her stroke.
Sharon took part in the fundraiser “Walk 100KM with your Dog in June” in 2022 and 2024. She decided to fundraise for The Irish Heart Foundation as they had “supported me when I really needed them, and I wanted to increase awareness of the foundation and the services and supports that they offer”.
She also got to spend time with Danann, her mini-Dachshund. “Danann might be small, but she is mighty. She came into my life as a tiny puppy full of joy after my stroke and made the worst parts of my difficult recovery so much more bearable, bringing me through the hardest of days. Danann has been an amazing therapy dog, even though she never intended to be one. We are best friends and now that I’m more back on my feet, we are inseparable, enjoying walks, playing games and are ALWAYS up to no good together”. Danann has become an unofficial mascot for the young stroke survivors at the Irish Heart Foundation, “she brings a smile to the member’s faces and has been involved in two fundraisers so far – one in 2022 and in 2024”.
Sharon feels that the “Walk 100KM with your Dog in June” made her proactive and she “really engaged with friends and family online during the challenge. A page is set up online to track your progress, and the team in the Irish Heart Foundation encourage you to keep going. Donations are made through Facebook so it’s very easy to manage. It was nice to get a medal at the end as you really feel like you have achieved something”. And Danann received a tailor-made bandana for her efforts!
“Join Danann for her third year of fundraising for the Irish Heart Foundation this June 2025”. Sharon would encourage anyone to get involved in this challenge.
“It’s fun, it’s good for you, you’ll feel a great sense of achievement at the end, and you are raising much needed funds for the Irish Heart Foundation”.
Sharon promised herself when she was in hospital that she would share her story. She hopes to help “support other stroke survivors and try to educate young women about my journey, with the intention of protecting even one person from having to go through all that I went through”. She realises that she is an “incredibly lucky girl in the unluckiest way”.
2025-06-20
