Susie thought her symptoms were down to being ‘too busy’
A mum says she had a stroke after cartwheeling and dismissed her migraine for being “too busy”. Susie Thompson, 43, suffered a carotid stroke – which happens when the carotid artery is blocked or injured. Doctors said she injured the artery through exercise – and she instantly realised cartwheeling was the cause.
She says she was “too busy” to realise she was having a stroke at first – and it only “clicked” when her sons, James, nine, George, seven, said they couldn’t understand her. The stroke left her in hospital for a month – but almost two years on, she still hasn’t fully regained her speech or walking abilities.
Now, Susie wants other mums to learn the symptoms of strokes, so they can seek medical help quickly. Susie, who is now unemployed due to her disabilities, from Leicester, Leicestershire, said: “I was doing cartwheels at my sister’s the day before – I think that’s what caused my stroke.
“We used to be very into gymnastics – we spent all afternoon doing cartwheels in her lounge the day before. I was too busy to realise I was having a stroke – I’d just finished feeding my baby, and I thought I had a migraine. I thought I was too young to be having a stroke. I didn’t know anyone else my age who’d had one, it was quite unusual.
“But, mine was nearly fatal.”
On August 2, 2023, Susie woke up at 4am to breastfeed her now-one year old, Robin. She hadn’t been feeling ill beforehand, and didn’t display any “warning signs” like numbness, weakness or a severe headache.
The previous day, she’d spent time with her sister, college teacher Katie Anderson, 41, practicing cartwheels for fun. Despite feeling “okay,” the next thing Susie remembers is waking up, after falling asleep on the floor. Her husband, electrician James, 50, asked her if she was okay – and she returned to bed, thinking a migraine caused her to blackout.
She said: “I got back into bed, and James said: ‘Okay, I’m off to work now.’
“I thought I had a migraine – I certainly didn’t think I had a stroke. The boys came up to ask if they could have breakfast. In my head, I told them: ‘Yes’ – but they couldn’t understand what I was saying.
“Still thinking I had a migraine – James came home at 5pm – I was in a right state, and he phoned an ambulance.”
Susie was rushed to the Leicester Royal Infirmary, where a CT scan confirmed she’d suffered a carotid stroke – having injured the carotid artery in her neck, which she suspects was due to cartwheeling the day before. She was transferred to Nottingham City Hospital the following day, and had two emergency surgeries – one to repair the artery, and another to remove a blood clot from her brain.
The mum-of-three was moved to intensive care for two days, and then transferred to St. Luke’s hospital, Leicestershire, to the stroke rehabilitation ward. In total, Susie spent one month as an inpatient at St. Luke’s, and three months as an outpatient, as well as recovering at home.
“There was no prognosis – I got told to just recover as well as I could,” she said. When I had the surgery, I was very, very poorly – nearly dead. Now, after intensive rehabilitation and walking with sticks, I’m doing quite well for myself.”
The mum has gained the majority of her speech back, and walks with a functional electrical stimulation (FES) cuff on her feet – which she says has helped her to get her independence back.
But Susie says her symptoms may have been less severe if she’d recognised her stroke earlier in the day. She added: “I can’t fault the care I’ve received – particularly from the Matt Hampson Foundation. But I was very poorly – and more women need to know the signs of stroke.”
The three main signs of stroke are:
- Facial weakness
- Arm weakness/numbness
- Slurred or hard-to-understand speech
