What 29-year-old Kate Weaver from England has been through, I would not wish on anyone. She is a nurse and was 39 weeks pregnant when she was out shopping with her 36-year-old husband, Tim, and started to feel like she was having cramps, so she sat down for a rest, but when she wasn't able to use her left arm to push herself back up, she realized what was really going on. She was having a stroke!
She was barely able to say to her husband, "We need to go to hospital. It's not the baby, I'm really ill," before she lost her ability to talk and move. Unbelievable, a stroke isn't really something a young woman worries about while pregnant.
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She was rushed to the hospital where the difficult decision was made go ahead with thrombolysis. Thrombolysis breaks down blood clots with the use of medication and was needed to save Kate's life, but it is not something that can be taken lightly during pregnancy as it puts the baby at risk.
Three days later, Kate gave birth to Toby, a healthy little boy born at six pounds, 11 ounces. "I thought we would both die so when I heard Toby cry the release of knowing he was alive was incredible," Kate said.
Toby went home when he was a week old and his mommy followed him a week later.
Let me tell you that this woman is a fighter and then some. She recovered her speech four hours after the stroke, but remained partially paralyzed and had no movement on the left side of her body when she left the hospital. She has since undergone pioneering treatment called Functional Electrical Stimulation to help her walk again.
Can you imagine going through everything that this young woman has been through while at the same time becoming a first-time mom? I'm so impressed by her resilience and determination and I'm thrilled that she and her child are doing well.
Congratulations to her, her husband and Toby!
Image via Thinkstock
