Stroke survivor Jo Grant has a message for young people

“My stroke happened in the occipital lobe, in a part of the brain that transmits visual data, so I have blind spots in the right of both eyes.” 

Vision issues were what finally made Jo visit the doctor, 18 years ago, following a list of unexplainable symptoms. 

“I was in bed, after doing some exercise, and suddenly got the worst pain in my head; it’s described as a thunderclap headache and it was dreadful,” she said. 

“I was hanging over the side of my bed, with intense nausea.” 

With hindsight, Jo would have rushed to hospital, but her 28-year-old self waited for the debilitating pain to subside and went to sleep. Today, time-critical stroke medication can prevent lifelong damage to the brain. 

The next day, in the office, blurry vision prevented her using the computer to complete work. She was also, devastatingly, exhausted. It was another seven days before she went to the doctor. 

Jo is sharing her story, on World Stroke Day (October 29), to remind her community that stroke can happen at any age. 

“Don’t wait, if you have unexplained symptoms, because every minute counts when you’ve had a stroke,” she said. “I was one of the lucky ones; so many others have died as a result of stroke. 

“Listen to your body and seek medical help immediately.” 

Even after presenting to emergency, then undergoing brain testing, Jo didn’t take her symptoms seriously. 

“I had this phone message telling me to get to the hospital immediately, but my daughter had just gone to bed,” she said. 

“I ended up in the Royal Melbourne hospital for seven days, but it was too late. You’ve got four hours to dissolve a clot in the brain, to prevent damage.” 

In the ensuing years, Jo had to re-learn how to read and juggle her young toddler with an ever-present blanket of exhaustion. 

“I could see words and read them individually, but comprehending sentences was really hard,” she said. “I made myself read one newspaper article every day and challenged myself to get the gist of it. 

“The newspaper was easier, because articles were divided into columns, but some days it would take hours.” 

Jo tears us up as she remembers her daughter’s first day of school. 

“She came running up with a book and said, ‘I can read to you now mum’,” she said. 

“I always read to her in bed, but the stroke took that away from us. She was so excited at the idea of being able to read to me instead.” 

It was a difficult time, but Jo came to understand when her body needed rest and refused to let her vision impairment define her career or lifestyle. 

“I don’t have a lot of depth perception, so that caused some issues when I got back into horse-riding,” she said. “I expected the horse to jump at a different time, so there were a lot of falls.” 

Jo is the Primary Health Coordinator, at Grampians Health Edenhope’s ‘Health and Wellbeing Hub’, where she manages a list of programs and staff delivering allied health services to the community. 

Until now, Jo hasn’t revealed the ongoing negative effects of stroke with many colleagues or acquaintances. The positive effects are more visible, in the form of a radiating passion; Jo attributes her professional drive to that stroke, 18 years ago. 

“I don’t want people to ever feel alone, like I did in the months and years after my stroke,” she said. “I want the Hub to be a place that people walk into if they’re feeling isolated or confused or struggling to cope. 

“We might be able to find equipment and aids to help, link you with a the right service or simply listen to what you’re going through.” 

Signs of stroke include a drooping face, difficulty moving limbs and slurred speech. A sudden, intense headache, accompanied by nausea, should also be treated seriously. 

If you, or someone you know, is exhibiting these symptoms phone triple zero (000) immediately.