Laura Rose

On the day of 30th of April 1997 I went to school feeling fine. I went into class and had a fairly good day.

When I arrived home I sat down on the sofa and had a drink, then I said to my mum "I will go upstairs to get changed". I went upstairs and got undressed in the bathroom and went to the toilet, then I sat down on the floor because I was feeling a little sick. I was just about to call my mum when I collapsed on the floor, I then realised that I couldn't call my mum, because I couldn't speak or move. I got really scared and started to wail, luckily my mum heard me and ran upstairs. She thought I had dislocated my hips, as I had dislocated hips when I was little, but I had not, I had suffered a stroke and as I was only ten at the time you can imagine how scared I was.

An ambulance arrived and took me, my mum and elder sister to Warwick Hospital. My dad met us in casualty and eventually I was sent to MacGregor Ward. The doctors thought that I had had a fit but as I still could not speak properly or could not move anything on my right side they decided to start some tests.

The next day I had to have some blood tests and a CT scan. After that I had to go in an ambulance to a Private Hospital nearby where they had a mobile MRI scanner. All the tests could confirm was that I had suffered a stroke but they could not find a cause. I stayed in the hospital for 10 days where I continued to get better.

When I came home I just had to sit on the sofa, watching television, it was very boring and sometimes I just got so frustrated I shouted "Why me". That was the question I kept asking myself over the next few days. I was right handed and my stroke affected my right side, so I had to learn to write with my left had and this was very hard for me especially when I knew I couldn't just convert back into my right hand. Also getting washed and dressed alone in the morning was very hard, obviously I did this in hospital but this time there wasn't nurses to help me, this was a real challenge, and a bath was a real hullabaloo.

A physiotherapist and occupational therapist came to see me at home and I just burst into tears, I don't really know what came over me but it was an involuntary action, it was really weird. Over the next few weeks my therapists gave me lots of exercises to do, which were really hard.

I was sent to Birmingham Children's Hospital to see a neurosurgeon, and he suggested a heart scan, more blood tests and a MRA scan. I had to wait several weeks for the heart scan and blood tests and several months for the MRA which again was at a private hospital only this time in Birmingham. All the results came back negative and it is sill a mystery as to why this happened to me ......!

I have started back to school, and although I still get very tired and angry I am able to cope quite well. My walking is a lot better although I cannot walk too far. I would just like to say to anyone out there that is going through the same things that I was, Good Luck!

Laura Rose, Aged 12

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