introduction: hi everyone
F20, C5 incomplete asia B as a result of a spinal stroke on the 4/1/2026.
I presented no symptoms before my stroke, I woke up that day with a lot of pain on my neck, I thought I had slept on it weird but after getting up to get some ice and going back to bed, the pain just got a lot worse and I started feeling very weak… I was completely alone in London in my uni accommodation when I started to lose movement in my legs. I was so scared and after a lot of googling I decided to call an ambulance.
The paramedics arrived and I explained everything I was feeling, but I feel like they were not taking me seriously since they just dismissed my symptoms as a panic attack! (I explained I have had panic attacks before and they felt nothing like this, also there was no trigger for a panic attack, I had just woken up!)
They made me stand up and walk with them to the ambulance, I was wobbling so much that they had to hold me as I walked. When we got to the hospital they asked me to stand up again so that I could walk to A&E, I told them I couldn't stand up and they didn't believe me, so they pulled me up again, both of them holding me by each arm. I was shouting that I couldn't walk and I was going to fall, when they let go of me I fell on the floor of the ambulance. It was such a traumatic experience.
After a lot of tests and scans and a week in ICU they finally figured out that I had had a spinal stroke, but to this day they don't know what caused it.
As of right now I am in the spinal rehabilitation centre, doing physio and OT every day. I have limited function on my hands and I can move my arms, but from my chest down I have no motor function.
This is the hardest thing I have ever been through, I completely lost my independence and sense of identity. I was a nursing student just living my life, and now I have lost it all. Having to grieve the life we had before our injury is just so cruel.
I’d say i’ve been coping relatively well with everything (probably thanks to the 50mg of sertraline i take daily lol), but sometimes i feel like it hasn’t fully set in, like it’s all just a bad dream and i just have to wake up.
I wanted to ask if there’s anyone with a similar injury to mine and what your experience has been like, and if anyone has any advice for me.
I really want to go back to uni, but i won’t be able to finish my nursing degree :(
Do you guys work? study? what do you do? How has recovery been for you guys?