A young mum suffered a stroke as she sat at the table on Christmas Day - but had no idea until three days later.
Casey Singleton, 22, saw her vision blur and felt like she was about to fall off her chair as she sat with her family at home in Blackpool. At first, she had put the symptoms down to the after-effects of another stroke she had suffered days before her 22nd birthday.
On the evening of November 20, she was feeling tired and tried to take herself up to bed, following her partner who had brought their two young children upstairs, Lancs Live reports.
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However, Casey struggled to walk and instead began crawling up the stairs and falling back every time she did. Eventually lying on the floor downstairs, her partner Jack believed she was sound asleep on the sofa.
The morning after, Jack noticed Casey was "staring into space" and had no movement whatsoever. He called 999 and was on hold to the ambulance service for 15 minutes. From their home, Casey was taken to nearby Blackpool Victoria Hospital, before then being rushed to Royal Preston Hospital.
They were told that stroke victims need to be operated on within four hours of the condition occurring, or it could be fatal for the patient and surgeons refused to operate on Casey, with a significant amount of time has passed.
"Casey was in Preston hospital for the next three days, they were checking for the pressure on her brain - seeing if she got any worse basically," 25-year-old Jack said.
"The only thing I remember was the ambulance back to Blackpool Vic and I thought everything was OK," Casey added. "I felt happy, but that was the only feeling I could feel.
"I only had one feeling, my others were ruined." Once the couple had returned home, their attention was put on Casey's recuperation, but also on looking after their two young children, Tommy, one, and George, three.
Casey said that three days before, on December 22, her vision started to blur, but as they had not been told about symptoms to look out for, the couple initially put it down to the aftermath of the first stroke.
She said: "I was sat on the table on Christmas Day and I felt like I was falling off my chair. I was losing my balance and going weak and blurry. I see my physio every week and I sat with them a few days later and they just went 'Woah woah, you need to go to the hospital', I didn't know."
Then on December 28, Casey was told that an MRI scan confirmed she had experienced a second stroke three days prior. Now, with the left side of her brain being affected, Casey has no feeling in the right side of her body and struggles to stand. She has to be in a wheelchair for long distances, only permitted to leave her bed for the toilet.
Casey continued: "I put 100% of my weight onto my left leg and it needs to be 50/50. I just struggle, if I stand up, I fall back down."
The Doctors have no idea why Casey had a stroke at such a young age, with the mum stating she was perfectly healthy before it happened. She also says she now has to take four medications per day, before she was on none. Jack has also had to quit his job working in a pharmacy in Blackpool, in order to become a carer to Casey.
Casey said: "I need to go to my appointments and there's no one to drive. I get help from family, but we have to do it around them and Jack's always here with me.
"I need a lot of help, so it will really help if Jack gets driving." Casey is seen by physiotherapists, speech therapists, and other healthcare professionals all the time, but she says it's their presence she doesn't like, claiming it's proof that she needs them to get better.
"My two boys need their mum, I'm fighting for them. I can't hold Tommy anymore though."
"The kids know, they've been told but Tommy goes straight to Jack and George goes to my dad. I feel like I've lost my bond with them. I'm fighting for my kids and I'm praying that I can walk somehow."
You can donate to Casey and Jack's Go Fund Me page here.
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