On September, 21st 2023, while I was out for my usual 5am run on Tawa Street, I got hit by a car. Running was a big part of my life. That morning, my dad found me. My eye socket was blown out, but thankfully, I didn't have any lasting eye problems.
In 2017, I sustained a traumatic brain injury from a fall in the Rocky Mountains and fractured my occipital bone, which is in the back of my skull. This caused my brain to bounce off the inside of my skull resulting in three large brain haemorrhages, nearly fatal cerebral oedema or swelling of my brain, loss of my sense of smell, and several new disabilities.
My mom received a phone call from the doctor telling her that their little baby girl, their six-month-old who seemed so strong and healthy, had suffered a stroke. What did that mean? Well, to put it plainly, the news my mom received that day was that Hannah would likely never walk, talk, or reach adulthood.
I didn’t initially know what was happening when I awoke from sleep with the worst headache of my life. I wanted to get up, but I had trouble standing. Then, the vomiting began. Luckily, my husband took me to the emergency room where a scan revealed the cause: a subarachnoid hemorrhage.
Aged 30, on December 30, 2023, I went to bed feeling fine but woke up never feeling the same. Whilst I was sleeping, I had a subarachnoid brain aneurysm which burst and led me to have two surgeries and being medically induced into a coma for five days.
Unfortunately, due to the aneurysm rupturing, I had added complications. The aneurysm was close to my carotid artery and it was touch and go what the outcome of it would be.
People around me noticed changes in my behavior and questioned if I was okay. Despite multiple visits to the doctor and medications, it was numbness in my face and tongue that finally led me to visit A&E.
Thanks to my mom’s unwavering persistence, I was given a CT scan which revealed shadowing on my brain. An MRI then confirmed a 3.2 cm giant aneurysm near my brain stem, posing a significant rupture risk.
During a high school playoff game, I was fouled while going up for a lay-up and slammed my head on the hardwood floor.
I was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with a major concussion. During the MRI, doctors noticed a “shadow” on my cerebellum that required consistent monitoring to ensure it didn't grow.
I sought out one of the best neurologists in New York and ended up at Columbia Presbyterian in Manhattan.
I had a massive stroke that affected my left brain. I was healthy, going out, taking care of my two kids and a husband, and working full time. Out of the blue, I fell back to my bed and slumped down to the floor. I thought...‘oh my, this is going to be it’.
Having suffered with anxiety most of my life, and particularly badly for the past couple of years, the diagnosis of my aneurysm in October 2023 hit me hard. I was already in a bad place with my mental health.
I am Kelly, a brain injury survivor and caregiver to a daughter who sustained a traumatic brain injury at age three as the result of a car accident. My daughter's injury was life-threatening, and the diagnosis was immediate, even though the prognosis was not. My injury wasn't diagnosed until we returned home following her in-patient rehabilitation.