Chlo’s story.
Stroke at 17.
Worcester 10K, September 2025
Weeks went by and I started to believe maybe it was all in my head. I felt invisible, no one believed how sick I was. My left arm was weak, my vision was gone in one eye, and I was struggling to stay on my feet. Still, no one mentioned the word “stroke” until an MRI got offered to me as a cancellation in the January after it happened.
Months later after my 18th birthday, I finally got the phone call that changed everything. The doctors told me I had suffered multiple strokes over the previous months, causing brain damage in several areas. I was terrified. I was 17 years old and my life suddenly revolved around hospitals, scans, and unanswered questions.
Despite countless tests, no one could explain how or why this had happened. I became labeled a “medical mystery,” and my mental health took a hit. I struggled with speech, balance, and vision but mostly fear. Petrified it would happen again.
Over time, I found strength in the stroke community. In the various stroke charities out there and in others who understood what I was going through.
To this day, I still struggle with permanent vision loss in one of my eyes and severe post-stroke fatigue. I’ve never been the same since it happened.
Their support helped me heal in ways medicine couldn’t.
I stopped chasing a diagnosis and started focusing on what I could control rebuilding my life one day at a time.
Now, six years later. I’m proud of who I’ve become. I’m training for my first marathon in Manchester, competing in HYROX events, and have already run half marathons and other races! Every mile I run is proof that I am stronger than what tried to break me.
My stroke doesn’t define me but it shaped me into someone unstoppable. I am not a victim of what happened, I’m a survivor. A fighter and a testament to the power of never giving up on yourself.
When I was 17, my life changed overnight. One evening out with friends turned into something I’ll never forget. I suddenly felt dizzy, confused, my vision blurred, and I lost all memory of getting home. The next day, I woke up late and knew something was seriously wrong. But those around me brushed it off, assuming I was hungover even though I had barely had a drink.
I could barely see, my speech was slurred, and I was so disoriented I forgot to go to work. At one point, I even passed out in the shower for hours. Despite feeling dizzy, sick, and forgetful for days, no one took my symptoms seriously.
My mum finally took me to A&E, but even there, the doctor questioned my honesty and were prying about what I’d done the night before instead of listening to how unwell I felt.
They reluctantly did a CT scan, found a small AVM, and told me to “sleep it off” because it was nothing.
