A ‘super fit healthy eater’ is facing a life of paralysis after suffering a shock stroke at just 30 – as the number of attacks continues to rise among Brits under 50.
Liam Rudd, a mechanic from Guildford, had just moved to Australia’s Gold Coast when he suffered a fatal stroke, causing him to immediately collapse in the shower.
His partner, Stella Slinger Thompson, 28, found himself unable to move after the attack on Sunday, November 11, and immediately called an ambulance.
‘He was vomiting, so we thought he had a really bad concussion. We didn’t know what it was at the time,” recalled Ms Slinger Thompson, who is from Brighton but also lives in Australia.
Having recently emerged from a coma, Mr Rudd is suffering from paralysis on his left side and has been told to undergo intensive rehabilitation for at least a year and a half.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” Ms. Slinger Thompson said. ‘He could be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Who knows at this stage. It’s a matter of living in limbo and trying to stay positive without really knowing anything.”
After arriving at the hospital, doctors examined Mr Rudd and almost immediately determined that he had suffered a stroke due to paralysis on his left side.
He would needs emergency surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain that had caused the attack, they said.
Liam Rudd, 30, suffered a potentially fatal stroke despite being ‘super fit’ and ‘eating healthy’.
However, during the operation, doctors discovered a second blood clot that was too ‘high risk’ to operate immediately, forcing them to postpone the operation until the next day.
The first operation lasted six hours and involved cutting his skull to relieve pressure in his brain.
“The second operation was quite a sleepless night,” Ms Slinger Thompson said. “It was pretty bleak.”
Doctors put Mr Rudd into a medically induced coma to carry out the risky operation.
He remained sedated for the next three days before doctors decided it was safe to wake him.
Doctors have not confirmed what caused the stroke but believe it may be related to a fibroelastoma, a benign tumor that can grow on the heart valves and cause clots.
He is currently seen by doctors in a stroke unit five times a day and is visited by Mrs Slinger Thompson every day.
Although Mr Rudd’s medical costs are covered by Britain’s reciprocal agreement with Australia, it does not cover his rehabilitation process because he is not an Australian citizen, nor does he have a sponsorship.
“He is currently in the stroke unit but once he is transferred to the rehabilitation unit the costs will come,” Ms Slinger Thompson said.
Mr Rudd was put into a medically induced coma after the attack to perform life-saving surgery on his brain.
Mr Rudd has been told it will likely take at least a year and a half for him to recover from the attack
Mr Rudd has been forced to give up his dream of living in Australia and fly back to Britain where he can get free healthcare.
‘From the rehabilitation phase onwards it would become very expensive and a financial burden, to the point where it amounts to £8,000 a week.
They have advised us that the best case scenario is for us to go to Britain and get the rehabilitation he needs, where it is free because of the great NHS.”
The ad producer has set up a GoFundMe page to help cover the costs of flying Liam home safely before he is taken to the nearest hospital.
“(The support was) overwhelming. When we first launched it in 12 hours it cost £12,000. He became emotional for the first time and even cried because he was so overwhelmed by the love and support he received.”
She added that her partner “always wanted to live in Australia” and it became their shared “dream” and she hopes he will be able to return in the future.
‘It’s such bad luck. He moved here and was about to start a new job. He always wanted to go to Australia, since the first day I met him. He always talked about it.’
Rudd’s attack comes as experts warn of an alarming rise in stroke rates among younger adults.
Earlier this month, a MailOnline analysis of NHS data revealed that strokes among men under 39 have risen by almost a quarter over the past two decades.
According to NHS figures, the number of strokes among young men under 40 has risen by a quarter in the past 20 years.
By comparison, the number of life-threatening attacks in women of the same age has increased by only one percent.
Earlier this year, NHS health chiefs warned that the number of people aged 50 to 59 suffering from the potentially fatal condition had risen by 55 per cent in the past 20 years, official data showed.
Strokes affect more than 100,000 Britons every year – one every five minutes – and claim 38,000 lives.
This makes it the fourth biggest cause of death in Britain and a leading cause of disability.
The problem occurs when the blood supply to the brain is cut off, killing brain cells. The damage can lead to long-term disability and can affect how people think and feel.
The most common cause is fatty deposits or a blood clot that blocks the arteries that supply blood to the brain, also called ischemic stroke.
This happens as a result of cardiovascular disease, in which the blood vessels become narrowed or blocked by plaques over time.
These are made of cholesterol, calcium and other substances that build up in the artery walls in a process known as atherosclerosis.
The other – called hemorrhagic strokes – occurs when a blood vessel in the brain bursts and its contents begin to leak into the organ.
Despite advances in care that are improving survival rates, stroke remains the fourth leading cause of death in Britain, with 38,000 deaths from stroke occurring every year.