Survivor Stories

On January 13th, 2022, after a week of extreme headaches, I had a seizure and stroke in the car as my mother drove me to the ER. A neurosurgeon quickly identified an AVM hemorrhage and began to operate. A third of my skull was removed so the AVM could be removed, and I sat in a coma (possibly sedated) for a month with a tracheotomy.

Trying to understand what was going on, I went to an otorhinolaryngologist and a neurologist, but they said everything was fine. The conclusion was that most likely this was the effect of anesthesia after an operation. An MRI was ordered, but unfortunately, the results showed that I had suffered a micro stroke.

After waking up in the morning, Kevin felt a pain like he had never felt. It subsided for a short time, then bang! It was back again. A brain hemorrhage had occurred.

Mary experienced a traumatic brain injury aged 2 years old. She tells us about the lifelong impact of a fall as a toddler.

On New Year’s Eve, 2001, I was about to get high on the purest drugs. Sadly, it was in the neurosurgery prep room.

Tobias is a brain injury survivor who had to learn to walk, eat and talk again after suffering a devastating aneurysm. He spoke of the “moving” moment he crossed the finish line after taking part in SameYou’s Cycle Ibiza challenge.  

I got married on 2nd May 2021. My husband and I had been married a whole 16 days before I sustained a TBI.

At 28, I was leading a healthy, active life. After an optometrist appointment to identify the cause of my persistent headaches, I was handed a sealed envelope and told to go directly to the hospital. What followed, was emergency brain surgery.

I was diagnosed with Meningitis Brain Tuberculosis in November 2020 that resulted in a brain infection and stroke which hampered my vision, my comprehension and the worst: my 30 years of memory.

In her early 20s, with no prior symptoms Georgie's stroke came as a huge shock and reminder that you never know what is around the corner.

Aged 32, nothing suggested that I would wake up one day with such an event that turns one's life upside down in a second.

Sheila had a brain haemorrhage following brain surgery to take out a vascular tumor or cavernoma. Her story provides reassuring advice to those who may have gone through a similar experience.

Shan Shan relates some of the challenges she experienced as a health professional recovering from a traumatic brain injury.

On 29 April 2021, I experienced a sharp and severe onset of a headache. It was the worst pain I have felt but having not been affected by headaches I thought that it was a migraine.

I was 32 years old when I had my strokes. I was diagnosed with antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, or APS, which caused my blood to clot. The clot ended up in the right hemisphere of my brain, causing both strokes.

Suszanne has advocated for more support to be available during brain injury recovery and is now fighting for better care of other patients.

The first head injury I received was an earth-shattering experience.

In mid-late 2021, 20-year-old Julia became critically ill.

Jennifer's stroke affected her vision, hearing, balance, ability to walk, and weakened her left side.