A 14-year-old girl suffered a spontaneous stroke following a bout of flu, rendering her paralysed from the neck down. Lexi Brown, now 15, contracted the flu in December and was absent from school for a couple of days with a raised temperature and episodes of dizziness. The teenager, who is in year 10 and was preparing for GCSEs, started to feel recovered and intended to return to school the next day.
However, on December 16, she desperately called her mother Stacy Grantham, 33, crying out in agony and saying she could not move her arm. By the time paramedics reached her, Lexi, from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, had ceased breathing and required CPR before being rushed to hospital under blue lights.
Doctors confirmed Lexi had suffered a spinal stroke, and she was placed in a five-day induced coma. Upon waking, she was unable to walk, speak, or breathe without assistance - a crushing setback for the former theatre performer. Lexi has remained in hospital ever since, relying on a ventilator to breathe and communicate, and must be transported in a wheelchair, while the cause of the stroke continues to baffle medics.
Mum Stacy explained that with considerable effort, physiotherapy and occupational therapy, she might recover some muscle function gradually. Stacy said while doctors cannot establish a definitive cause, they believe that her episode of flu must have somehow triggered the stroke.
Mother's Heartbreaking Account
Stacy, a cruise travel agent, said: "She phoned me, screaming in pain. You know when you hear a certain scream, and you just know it's something serious? It was that. She was so healthy and active, a really passionate singer and she loved theatre. She says to me 'everything I love, I've now lost.' She can't see any light at the end of the tunnel. It's something no mum ever wants to see or hear, but we're trying to stay positive for her."
By the time Stacy had rushed back home, paramedics and an air ambulance crew were already on the scene, working to resuscitate her daughter, who had lost the ability to speak before losing consciousness. Lexi was placed in a 'neuroprotective' coma at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, while doctors worked to establish what had happened to her.
Five days later, Lexi regained consciousness to discover she had suffered a stroke in her spinal cord. Stacy said: "You picture a stroke as an older person, you don't think it can happen to a healthy 14 year old. They never found a cause - the only thing they can go on is that she had the flu, but she had no underlying conditions. When she woke, she was paralysed from the neck down and we were told she'd have no movement again, and be ventilated for the rest of her life."
Intensive Rehabilitation
Lexi is currently undergoing intensive physiotherapy in a bid to rebuild her muscle strength. She is able to communicate via a tracheostomy tube and relies on a ventilator to breathe overnight, though she is now becoming strong enough to breathe independently during the day. While some movement has returned to her limbs, she remains unable to use them for functional tasks such as feeding herself and pushing her own wheelchair.
Stacy said: "She can now talk as she would before, but her voice is huskier and she has an uncomfortable tube in her neck. She was an avid singer and her voice has been taken away, that's been devastating for her." The family have noticed encouraging signs that, with time, Lexi may be able to regain movement as her muscles gradually 'wake back up' through strength training and rehabilitation.
Stacy said: "It's so difficult, because the progress is so small. She sat up by herself for 30 seconds the other day, which is huge because we were told she wouldn't be able to do that."
Family Support and Housing Challenges
She receives regular visits from her mum Stacy, dad Craig Brown, 37, step mum Lou Baird-Brown, 33, and brothers Jake Brown, 12, and Theo Brown, one, to help keep her spirits up. However, Lexi cannot return to the family home as the property is rented, meaning wheelchair-friendly modifications cannot be made to the building. The family have been forced to register with the local council housing list so they can secure suitable accommodation for Lexi upon her discharge into the community, with carer support in place.
They are currently raising funds to cover travel expenses, private physiotherapy and other requirements once Lexi is discharged. Stacy said: "I don't think there is anything that could have been done for Lexi - there were no warning signs. It's what we do now, how everyone is coming together to support Lexi. It's not over anytime soon and we're living in a state of survival - it's a confronting thing, but we're trying to stay positive. But I'll forever tell people that Lexi was home alone, and saved her own life by calling me for help. She wouldn't be here today otherwise."
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