Sarah Porter, from Portland, Maine, was sitting in a college math class when she suddenly went "foggy." She didn't think anything of it — she just figured she was tired.
Sarah kept writing notes, but her University of Maine classmate looked alarmed. She told Sarah that she had just passed out, and that her face was twitching. It looked like she'd had a seizure, the girl told Sarah.
Still, Sarah wasn't too worried. When she stood up, though, everything changed. She couldn't feel the right side of her body, she had a terrible headache, and her face was spasming.
At just 20 years old, Sarah was having a stroke.
After the weird symptoms she had in her math class, Sarah limped back to her dorm to call her parents, who are both doctors.
Like this woman who recognized her own stroke symptoms, they immediately recognized she was having a stroke and told Sarah to go directly to the hospital.
By the time she got to the hospital, Sarah had lost almost all control of her face and couldn't talk. Her brother, who met her there, explained to the nurse what had happened.
Then the nurse said the most shocking thing: she thought Sarah was faking it.
[H/T Daily Mail]
Sarah had been in math class when she suffered a stroke, but she laughed it off and kept going with her daily life.
It was almost finals at the University of Maine, so Sarah was too focused on her studies to worry about her physical health.
After her parents, who were doctors, told Sarah to go to the ER, she reluctantly put down her books and went to the hospital.
At the hospital, Sarah's brother met up with her and explained to the nurse what was going on. He explained that Sarah was having a stroke, but the nurse didn't believe it.
She said there was no way Sarah could be having a stroke since she was only 20 years old.
The nurse assumed that Sarah was faking her stroke to get out of college finals.
Sarah believed the nurse — she also thought there was no way she could be having a stroke — but her brother put up a fight. He insisted Sarah needed medical attention.
At that point, a doctor poked his head into the room to see what was going on and immediately called for more help.
Sarah was having a hemorrhagic stroke.
Sarah woke up 24 hours later in the Intensive Care Unit and was told what had happened. Sarah was given medication and recovered in the hospital.
Then she met with a neurosurgeon who told her that she could hope to never have another stroke, or she could get preventative brain surgery. Sarah opted to wait and hope for the best.
For four years, Sarah was fine. Then, while living in NYC, Sarah had another stroke.
She went home and met with her neurologist, who performed brain surgery on Sarah. The operation went well, but days later she had severe swelling in her eye.
Her neurologist told her she had a severe infection, and she had to go through a second brain operation.
Now, 26-year-old Sarah is healthy and working in a stroke center — she's even working with the surgeon who saved her life.
Sarah is also a national spokesperson for the American Heart Association — raising awareness for strokes.
According to the Stroke Association, there are some main signs and symptoms to look for when trying to recognize a stroke:
- face drooping
- arm weakness
- speech difficulty
- numbness, especially on one side of the body
- sudden confusion
- trouble seeing in one or both eyes
- trouble walking, dizziness, loss of coordination or balance
- sudden severe headache
If you ever notice any of these signs in yourself or someone else, call 911 immediately — it could save a life.
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