At 32, Jermaine was living life at full speed.

‘I was always go, go, go – that’s just who I was,’ she says. ‘I was healthy. I felt good. I thought I was doing everything right.’

When she began feeling unwell after an intense gym workout in September 2025, Jermaine thought she’d just pushed herself too hard. But not long after, she experienced vertigo, vomiting and an excruciating headache.

‘The pain in my head hit me like thunder. Every breath hurt. I tried to drink water but couldn’t swallow. I couldn’t walk properly. I kept thinking, ‘Why am I falling? I should be able to stand.’’

She called 999. In hospital, scans revealed a clot and a tear in a neck artery, which had caused a rare brainstem stroke.

‘I spent three weeks in hospital trying to process what had happened,’ says Jermaine. ‘I was the youngest there. I had to learn how to walk again. Someone had to clean me as I couldn’t do it myself. That was really hard.’

Her greatest frustration was not being able to swallow. ‘I couldn’t eat or drink. I thought there’d be medication to fix it. But they said, ‘You just have to wait.’’

Returning home, Jermaine expected to recover quickly. Instead, she faced overwhelming fatigue and the emotional reality of stroke.

‘I was always a ‘I can do everything’ person, but I’d try to do something like washing dishes, and I’d be wiped out. Before, I was 100%. Now I’m 60% because 40% of my brain is healing. I’ve had to learn when to stop.

Needing help, Jermaine began private psychotherapy to understand her fatigue, pace her energy and process the emotional impact of stroke. She also found comfort through her local stroke support group. Listening to others’ experiences gave her reassurance. ‘It’s good to talk to people who’ve been through it, even if it’s not exactly the same,’ she says.

As she continues her recovery, Jermaine is adapting to a new way of living. ‘I’m still the same person, but I was 100 miles per hour before and now I’m 30. I’m going back to work with a different mindset. I’m not going to push myself into another stroke by being overly stressed.

‘People say I’m unlucky, but I see it as an opportunity to build better habits and live life differently.’

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Stroke News magazine

This article is featured in the summer 2026 edition of our magazine, Stroke News. Subscribe to our future editions available in print, on audio CD or via email.