Leeds fashion blogger who had a stroke at just 17 says it's now her 'superpower'

It quickly developed into a blurred vision and vomiting, and she was left unable to stand up. At 17, the Leeds fashion blogger couldn’t have guessed she was having a stroke. Neither did her doctors, but five days later, a CT scan revealed she had a clot on her brain.

Bridie, now 29, only spent a week in hospital after she finally called an ambulance in December 2012 and the clot dispersed with treatment. But twelve years on she is still suffering from severe physical and psychological side effects of the stroke.

Bridie said: “I just never thought it could happen to someone so young. When my pain is at its worst, that’s when I can’t bear anything touching me or I can’t use my hand.”

Immediately after her stroke, Bridie was left with severe fatigue and weakness on the left side of her body which, after a few months, developed into severe pain that “burnt from head to toe”. The severe side effects meant Bridie couldn’t enjoy being a teenager or do what her friends were doing as she entered her twenties.

She said: “I was just so caught up in healing and controlling my pain. I didn’t have time nor the good health to do the normal teen things like parties, dating and university. It’s all I’ve known through my most important years.”

Bridie, who will celebrate her 30th birthday next month, feels she has missed out on her youth and still has to manage how much she can do each day. As well as being left physically unable to do as much as her peers, Bridie’s psychological state has also suffered.

She said: “I need to limit myself and rest as much as I can. I still to make the mistake of taking too much on because I forget I don’t have a normal brain. I just need to listen to my body and accept it.

"The mental impact has definitely been worse than the physical, and that is saying something with the debilitating pain I have.”

Bridie has undergone several years of psychotherapy to enable her to find a way of coping with everyday life, which includes never classing herself as a victim. Bridie opts to use the term ‘survivor’ as a way of adapting to “her new self after trauma”.

Bridie now works closely with Different Strokes, a charity helping young stroke survivors in the UK reclaim their lives. Her neurologist introduced her to the charity after she had the stroke, but she didn’t get in touch with them until they were reintroduced in 2020.

Bridie added: “The word, victim, has negative connotations and puts emphasis on the suffering, making survivors seem weaker than they are. It puts the stroke above the person, even though they are doing all the work to get themselves back on their feet.

"I cannot imagine being me without my survivor identity. I’ve lost a lot, but gained so much more and I’ve figured out what truly matters in life. I feel like I’ve gained a superpower and I use it to my full advantage. The resilience I’ve carried has shaped me into the most authentic version of myself.”