I thought I felt groggy from a bad hangover – I woke up fighting for my life
A MUM who thought she was suffering a bad hangover ended up fighting for her life in hospital.
Francesa Murray, 45, was celebrating with a group of friends and when she woke in the morning, she thought nothing of her “grogginess”.
The mum-of-two said: "It was supposed to be my friend Natasha Flynn's wedding but she cancelled because of Covid, and 30 of us went down to Kerry in June 2020 to celebrate anyway.
"We had a session in her house in Ventry and went to bed. I got up, felt a little groggy and decided to have a painkiller and went back to bed.
"Even getting sick a short time later was no different to a bad hangover."
It wasn’t until the hairdresser, from Dublin, started slurring her words that childhood friend Natasha became concerned.
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The nurse called 999 and Francesa was airlifted by a coastguard crew to Cork University Hospital (CUH).
It was then discovered that Francesa had in fact suffered a stroke.
She said: "I couldn't speak, I had right-side paralysis and couldn't move, I couldn't swallow, had to be spoon-fed and had a catheter in.
"I remember the doctors around the bed saying I had had a stroke. It was horrible.”
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More than 100,000 people suffer a stroke every year in the UK, and people over the age of 55 more at risk.
However, one in four occur in younger people.
Francesa's stroke was so severe that she spent a month with stroke and physiotherapy teams relearning how to walk, having speech therapy and recovering her eyesight.
Francesa said: "I don't think I understood the severity of it. They had me walking from one end of the bed to the other, then progressing to the corridor. I'd only manage a few steps before I had to rest.
"Losing my peripheral vision meant instead of walking straight, I'd walk to my right."
She was then transferred to St James's in Dublin and now only relies on medication as part of her recovery.
The ordeal has given Francesa a “whole different outlook on life”.
She has gone from managing only a few steps around her hospital room to signing up for a 10K charity marathon next month.
Francesa said: "I'm nearly there. Now it's like I'm working on myself, I've joined a gym and I'm reclaiming my life.
"You have to remember how lucky you are to have each day.
"I decided to do the mini-marathon on June 5 to raise funds for because CUH are the ones that got me walking again."
Glen Arrigan, one of Ms Murray's clinical nurse specialists at CUH, which sees more than 600 stroke patients a year, described her recovery as "incredible".
"What she has achieved in the last two years is an incredible story and we need to hear more stories of people like Fran," Mr Arrigan said.
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"Courage, bravery, resilience; she has managed to get through this frustrating and uncertain time and has come out the other side.
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"By telling her story, it will hopefully raise people's awareness of stroke and reduce the risk of this happening to somebody else."
You can support Francesa's fundraiser by .
What is a stroke and what are the symptoms?
A stroke is a life-threatening brain attack, which occurs when the blood supply to part of your brain is cut off – without blood, the cells in your brain can be killed or suffer damage.
It can have different effects depending on where in the brain this damage occurs.
It can change how you think and feel, and cause speech problems or a weakness on one side.
For some, the effects of a stroke can be relatively minor and will fade quickly, but others can be left with problems that leave them dependent on other people.
Around one in eight people who suffer a stroke die within 30 days, so it is vital to get medical assistance as soon as possible – the sooner somebody is treated, the more likely they are to survive.
The FAST method – which stands for Face, Arms, Speech, Time – is the easiest way to remember the most common symptoms of stroke:
F = Face drooping - if one side of a person's face is dropped or numb then ask them to smile, if it's uneven then you should seek help.
A = Arm weakness - if one arm is weak or numb then you should ask the person to raise both arms. If one arm drifts downwards then you might need to get help
S = Speech difficulty - if a person's speech is slurred then this could be a sign of a stroke
T = Time to call 999 - if a person has the signs above then you need to call 999 in the UK or 911 in the US for emergency care.
Other symptoms include:
- sudden weakness or numbness on one side of the body
- difficulty finding words
- sudden blurred vision or loss of sight
- sudden confusion, dizziness or unsteadiness
- a sudden and severe headache
- difficulty understanding what others are saying
- difficulty swallowing