Kerry woman who survived stroke at age 22 defied doctors by regaining the ability to walk again

Ten years ago, Kerry-based Meaghan O’Brien suffered a stroke while at the gym, and a decade on, has defied the expectations of her doctors by returning to work and regaining the ability to walk

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Life

Sarah Magliocco

18:31, 19 NOV 2023

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Meaghan O’Brien was just 22 when she collapsed after starting a gym session but recognised the F.A.S.T. signs such as facial drooping and left arm weakness.

She is speaking out about her experience with the aim of helping ‘invisible’ patients be heard within the health system.

Paramedics had to wheel her past her mum who was waiting to start a class in the same gym, before she was rushed to hospital and given thrombolysis, a clot-busting drug.

“I felt like I was dying, so I was happy to take it,” said the Boston native, living in Dingle, Co Kerry since 2020 and due to marry fiancé Gearóid next year" she said.

Meaghan recently graduated as an Irish Heart Foundation Patient Champion to speak out about her life following a stroke.

Following her stroke in the US in January 2013, she was flown by medical helicopter to a Boston hospital.

“I was in ICU and surrounded by doctors and machines – it was so scary. I couldn’t do anything – I couldn’t sit up, go to the toilet or move my head.”

A week later, the devastating news that she would never walk again was broken to her and her family, but she was determined to recover.

Stroke survivor Meaghan O'Brien says no patient should be told they can’t do something, as mindset is so important to recovery. She has graduated from an Irish Heart Foundation Patient Champions programme to advocate for other stroke and heart patients and ensure their voice is included in policy decisions on how to care for them. — Stroke survivor Meaghan O'Brien says no patient should be told they can’t do something, as mindset is so important to recovery.

“When practising walking up and down the corridors, I was surrounded by people in their 70s and 80s. I asked myself, ‘why am I here?’. It was such a shock to me.

“I felt that I was wasting precious recovery time doing something that wasn’t benefitting me.”

Now 32, she has defied doctors by regaining the ability to walk again and returning to a job in IT.

She and 11 other patients have now graduated from the Patient Champions programme, and they will advocate for fellow patients and lobby TDs and Senators to ensure their needs are taken into account when policy decisions are being made about their care.

Stroke survivor Meaghan O'Brien, left, says no patient should be told they can’t do something, as mindset is so important to recovery. She has graduated from an Irish Heart Foundation Patient Champions programme to advocate for other stroke and heart patients and is pictured after receiving her certificate with Pauline O'Shea, the charity’s Advocacy Campaign Manager. Picture: Irish Heart Foundation. — Stroke survivor Meaghan O'Brien, left, says no patient should be told they can’t do something, as mindset is so important to recovery.

“I would have benefitted so much from the programme if it was developed when I had my stroke,” said Meaghan.

“I’m here to support those stroke patients now."

“It’s so beneficial to me to get official training on how to use my experience to make a difference. I was often ‘wheeled out’ to tell my story, but now I feel I have the training to give impact.”

The Irish Heart Foundation’s Advocacy Campaign Manager, Pauline O’Shea, who was diagnosed with heart failure in 2012, said many patients feel ‘unheard, invisible and disempowered’.

“This programme and our organisation’s commitment to ongoing peer and professional advocacy support for patients, provides a natural hub for heart and stroke patients from all over Ireland to come together and work for changes needed in cardiac and stroke care, of which there are many,” she said.

“Patients’ challenges often extend beyond medical issues and can lead to financial stress, mental health difficulties and relationship breakdown.

“We often have people making decisions about patients’ lives without any patient input.”

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