JUST minutes after complaining of a pounding headache, Saskia Bishop was unable to move.
The fit and healthy 22-year-old was , having also suddenly and was “only able to blink”; as a means of communicating with her terrified family.
Saskia was visiting her grandma on April 21 when disaster struck and she was floored by the .
The business owner was rushed to A&E where doctors made not one but two devastating discoveries.
Saskia, who lives in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, said: “I had absolutely no symptoms or changes in my .
“There was literally nothing to suggest it was going to happen until the day that it happened.
“I had just arrived at my grandma’s and got a blistering pain in my head.
“It hit me like a sharp pain and then I could almost hear a flat line beeping in my head.
“It was so consuming, I couldn’t think about anything else.
“My dad told me to go lie down and I immediately threw up. I could basically only blink.
“I couldn’t really move. If I stood up, I would’ve just collapsed.
“I knew that something wasn’t right but as soon as my speech started to go, I couldn’t communicate that with anyone.
“I was really frightened when I was . I thought I needed medical attention but didn’t know why.”;
Aware something was gravely wrong, Saskia’s dad rushed his daughter to Gloucester Royal Hospital’s A&E, before she was transferred to Southmead Hospital’s intensive care unit in .
It was there that medics discovered Saskia had a significant bleed in her brain that had caused a .
But more bad news was to come. Further tests revealed she was also suffering from a rare brain condition known as (AVM).
An AVM is a tangle of blood vessels in the brain or on the brain’s surface which causes blood to bypass normal tissues.
Most people with have no initial symptoms or notice any problems. But when an AVM ruptures, it can prove deadly.
In Saskia’s case the AVM had ruptured, causing a which then turned into a .
The 22-year-old underwent a seven-hour operation to remove the AVM and the surrounding .
After losing her speech for two weeks, she has now made a partial recovery and her speech has gradually returned.
Saskia was able to go home after two weeks in hospital but she is still suffering long-term effects, including and mobility issues, months later.
“I’m such a chatterbox I thought nothing is going to stop me from speaking,”; she says.
“A load of my head is numb now. I get shooting pains where my scar is and my whole head aches but other than that I’m very lucky I don’t have any other defects.
“When I got my speech back it was gradual.
“It was frustrating that I couldn’t get my point across and sometimes it takes me a while to answer. It’s still coming back.
“I’ve made a strong recovery but if I go long distance, I need a wheelchair.
“Everyone kept saying I was lucky and I feel grateful I survived and I can walk and talk. It could’ve been fatal.”;
Saskia also had to reckon with her family’s concern for her.
“When they told me how serious it was, I was more worried about how my family would take the news,”; she said.
“They said it was the worst day of their lives and thought I might not make it through.
“My family thought I was going to die when they were told [I had an AVM].”;
Saskia said she was “stubborn and determined [she] wanted to do things”; while recovering from her ordeal.
But she’s had to learn to take things more slowly.
“This is the worst thing I’ve ever gone through. I’ve never gone through anything like this.
“I thought I’d be back to work in two weeks but I still can’t do most things so that definitely isn’t an option for a while.
“I’m just taking it day by day.”;
Now, Saskia wants to warn others about the importance of listening to their body.
“I was born with my AVM. A lot of people go their whole life without knowing. I had no idea I had this.
“I’m kind of lucky I had it when I did because recovery is so much easier when you’re younger.
“I would say to other people your age doesn’t protect you from anything so listen to your body. You know if something is severely wrong.”;
