Mother Mistakes Symptoms Of Stroke For A Hangover: 'I Remember Thinking, I Don't Want To Die Yet'

Woman Thought She Had A Hangover But It Turned Out To Be A Stroke

Leanne Arnold, 33, had a few glasses of punch while she was at a friend's BBQ, so when she began to experience dizziness and a headache she assumed it was just the beginning of a hangover.

The mother-of-one tried to sleep off the symptoms, but when she woke, she could feel pins and needles pulsating through her body.

She collapsed when she tried to stand, while her 15-year-old daughter, Lauren, slept in the bedroom next door.

Thankfully, Arnold managed to phone her father for help just before the right side of her body became completely paralysed.

She was rushed to hospital by ambulance and it was there she received the surprising news that she'd had a stroke.

"The moment I collapsed I suddenly saw my life flash before my eyes - it was an incredibly scary experience," Arnold said, according to the MailOnline.

"When the medics arrived, I was barely able to say my name, let alone walk. I just remember thinking, 'I don't want to die yet'."

Once at Scunthorpe Hospital, doctors completed an MRI scan and told Arnold she had suffered a blood clot in her brain.

She couldn't walk or feel the right side of her body and was temporarily unable to speak.

The NHS midwife support worker was discharged from hospital two weeks later, but couldn't return to work for another three months.

After months of rehabilitation and a prescription of daily blood thinning tablets, she has now made a full recovery.

According to the NHS, around 110,000 people have a stroke in England every year and it is the third largest cause of death, after heart disease and cancer.

Older people are most at risk, although they can happen at any age – including in children.

Despite this, Arnold had never considered that a stroke could happen to her because she lives a healthy lifestyle, rarely drinks and goes to the gym around three times per week.

She said: "I had all the tests, but doctors still couldn't put their finger on it - it was a freak occurrence to my mind. But it serves as a harrowing reminder that strokes can affect anyone at any age."

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