A lingering paralysis was the only warning sign that an active mother of two and avid surfer was suffering from consecutive strokes.
Jenny Hellyer, 43, was returning home from a day at the beach with her family in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales on January 6 when she felt paralysis developing in her right leg.
At first she didn’t notice anything because she was sitting in the passenger seat while her husband was driving, but that quickly changed when they got home.
“When I wanted to get out of the car, my leg collapsed under me,” she said 9News.
‘It felt like my leg was a flag blowing in the wind, like it wasn’t connected to my body at all. I tried to take a few steps, but I just couldn’t walk.
“Nothing was right. I thought maybe it was a tick or a snake bite. I was trying to understand it.”
The situation became worse when Ms Hellyer experienced numbness in half of her face and suddenly had a ‘strong metallic taste’ in her mouth.
She wondered if it could be a stroke, but felt she was ‘too young’.
Jenny Hellyer, 43, was a very fit and active mother who was shocked when she found out she had had a stroke
But when she started Googling her symptoms, the risk of a stroke increased.
“I looked at my husband and said I think I’ve had a stroke and I need to go to the hospital,” Hellyer said.
Her husband called an ambulance, which rushed Mrs Hellyer to Lismore Base Hospital, where an MRI scan revealed she had suffered two massive strokes and a number of mini-strokes.
A GoFundMe A page set up by David Orourke states that Mrs Hellyer had ‘struck the right side of her body and suffered two strokes on the left side of her brain’.
‘“As an incredibly fit and healthy mother, this has unexpectedly and tragically ended the lives of the entire family,” he wrote.
“Anyone who knows Jenny knows she is a wonderful mother of two beautiful children and works tirelessly in environmental research.”
‘Before she suffered two strokes, Jenny made surfing and Muay Thai look easy.’
After two weeks in the hospital’s complex care unit, Mrs Hellyer took her first steps.
Although it was a gruelling rehabilitation, Ms Hellyer (pictured) managed to get back to surfing
Mrs Hellyer was transferred to another hospital, where she received intensive physical therapy and occupational therapy.
“Jenny needs to reprogram her brain (a confronting process) and strengthen the weakness in her right arm and leg,” Mr Orourke wrote.
‘Unfortunately, cognitive screening tests also showed that the stroke affected her brain’s ability to concentrate and remember.’
Ms Hellyer said she felt ‘like a stranger in her own home’ when she was eventually discharged and struggled to carry out simple tasks.
“It took me an hour and a half to unload four bags of groceries because I didn’t know where to put everything,” she said.
Doctors discovered she had a small hole in her heart that she was born with, and she also discovered she had a blood clotting disorder, both of which increased her risk of stroke.
Still, Ms Hellyer said her friends and family were shocked by what had happened.
“The most common answer I get is, ‘But you’re so fit and healthy,’” she said.
According to Dr. Lisa Murphy, CEO of the Stroke Foundation, many people mistakenly believe that strokes only occur in older people.
“There is no discrimination against stroke. It can happen to anyone, at any age,” she said.
‘Although the risk of stroke increases as we get older, about 1 in 4 strokes occurs in young and working-age people.’