As I lay there, unable to speak or move my right side, the concern in my family’s voices filled the room. The severity of my condition hit them all in that bleak moment.
My sister called for an ambulance, but it took a while to get there. As they arrived, my loved ones tried to explain the week-long battle I had endured with illness.
That’s the last thing I remember until a week later when I regained consciousness to find the right side of my body still paralysed and my voice gone for the rest of the month.
Over time, I began to piece together everything that had happened to me, starting with the surgery I had as soon as I was admitted to hospital. I discovered that I had suffered a stroke at the age of 29. The doctors had to stop the blood clots on the left side of my brain.
This period was heartbreaking for my family because my condition was much worse than they had initially feared. The doctors had told them it was unlikely for me to come out of this without severe complications.