Surviving a stroke at 18

Today is World Stroke Day, a reminder that strokes can impact anyone at any age after surviving a stroke at just the age of 18 Lauren Tracy relearned how to walk and eventually ran a marathon, give me a high five, I love this for you, what a story, what a story, take us back somewhat six years ago, yeah, yeah, almost about in December, um, so I was at home, um, at my At college, freshman year, I was at home for winter break and all of a sudden I just got really dizzy and I fell over and I thought it was going to go away, I thought it was just a dizzy spell, but it just kept getting worse. I couldn't swallow and that's when I told my mom that I wanted to go to the ER. I thought it was just a bad migraine or just, I don't know, a fluke thing, but when we got there I just got worse and worse, couldn't walk straight and then I was trying to talk to the receptionist, couldn't really get my words out. And then when we finally got back to the ER, they did a CT scan, didn't really think anything was wrong, but told a different story. I had a stroke. So then I was in the hospital for about a month, relearning how to walk, swallow, everything else. But once I was in there, I had goals I wanted to set for myself. So I started classes, my college classes from my hospital and rushed to sorority. For better or for worse, it was COVID, so I could do that. And then eventually I got home and... Got back to school, got to see my friends and enjoy my college experience. Now, Lauren, you make it sound so easy. You know, it took a lot of work and a lot of determination for you to do that. I mean, your spirit is just so strong to take on life again in that way and then do a marathon. It's one thing to relearn how to walk and go through that recovery. It's something else to say, I'm going to run it out next time. What got you there? How did that come up? Honestly, it's something that I've always wanted to do in my life, and like I said before about starting school, I didn't want to let the stroke stop me from any of my goals. So I think it was already on my list of things I wanted to do in life, and especially after seeing myself do that, I knew that it was something that I could achieve. Love the pictures here that we're showing our viewers of your journey. So it's World Stroke Day. What do you want people to know, because ultimately you recognize some signs that something was wrong and you acted fast. Yeah. Yeah. A hundred percent. I mean, looking back, it was so obvious that I was having a stroke. So I think, first of all, I want everyone to know that, that it can happen. It can happen to anyone at any age. There's not a rule book. Um, it's important to, for you and your loved ones to know the signs. An easy acronym is BE FAST, uh, balance, eyes, face, arms. Balance eyes, face, arms, speech, and then time, because time is of the essence, can make a big difference. And then also I want people to know that it doesn't stop your life or change anything. You can still set out to do anything you want to do. All right. You're going to be doing a lot, too, with this in terms of advocacy, February, and a fear of the heart that's coming up in D.C. Huge fundraiser. Yep. Yeah. I had the pleasure of speaking at the event and sharing my story and attending last year. And I'm going to get to go again this year. It's a super fun event. It's a luncheon and a fashion show and raises money for heart and stroke disease research grants. It'll be a great time. Yes, we put all of the details on the screen there. So you all make sure you go and support to gather more research and advocacy in that area. Congratulations, Lauren, on all the things. I'm super proud of you. We'll be right back with more Fox 5 after this quick break.