Cape Town - “It was 3am and I woke up feeling a bit strange, very nauseous and dizzy. I crawled to the bathroom but I couldn’t control my body.
“On my right side my arms and legs were moving strangely. I was making strange sounds and trying to call someone but nothing came out.”
Nineteen-year-old Bianca Damon, from Southfield, Cape Town, was having a stroke, caused by a blood clot on the left side of her brain.
She said her parents rushed her to hospital where she stayed for three weeks as doctors carried out tests and monitored her. “I lost movement on my right side for two to three days after the stroke.
“I am lucky that I don’t have any physical defects now. but my speech was severely affected,” Damon said. “I couldn’t write single letters, I couldn’t read and couldn’t form sounds. I could only after some time say ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘mom’ and ‘I’m trying’.”
After undergoing months of therapy, her speech has dramatically improved, but she has had to put her plans to study on hold.
Health experts say inactivity, obesity and HIV/Aids are resulting in more young people suffering strokes.
The provincial health department said strokes are the third leading cause of death in the Western Cape and one of the leading causes of disability in the country, with more than 400 South Africans a day suffering strokes.
According to Western Cape Rehabilitation Centre (WCRC) chief executive Jenny Hendry, the burden of stroke does not only result in high mortality rates, but also leaves about half of survivors chronically disabled.
During the 2014/15 financial year, the WCRC admitted 755 patients and attended to 9 880 patients at its specialised outpatient clinics.
According to Hendry, a third of admissions were as a result of strokes.
Hendry said that strokes were prevalent for males in their 50s and females in their 60s. however, the WCRC was starting to see more and more younger patients in their 20s and 30s suffer strokes which was often associated with HIV and Aids infection.
“Tobacco, obesity, sedentary lifestyles and development of co-morbid medical conditions contribute to the increase in stroke cases,” Hendry said.
Alan Bryer, from the Division of Neurology at Groote Schuur Hospital, said: “The risk of stroke increases after 50 years of age, but younger people can also have strokes. Slightly more women than men have strokes.
“Our current epidemic of inactivity and obesity in young people is likely to shift the risk to a younger age.
“It is important to be aware of the risk factors for stroke, recognise the warning symptoms and react quickly in seeking appropriate medical attention should such symptoms occur.”