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Kylie Ruff, 18, suffered a stroke in July, about a month before she enrolled at Boston University and was recruited to the school’s Division I (D1) rowing team. Ruff was in a small, remote town on New Zealand’s South Island to participate in an international rowing program. She was scrolling through her phone in a hotel when suddenly everything started spinning. Then she lost consciousness. When she came to, she realized she had no control over her limbs. She screamed in fear, unaware that the sounds she was making were being drowned out.
With the last of his strength, Ruff stumbled to the hotel door, unlocked it, and stepped out into a hallway filled with fellow paddlers who had heard the commotion. When she could no longer stand or move her legs, they helped her to the ground.
One of the coaches drove her to the nearest hospital, four hours away, but she continued to vomit throughout the journey. When she finally arrived, she was too unwell to undergo an MRI scan, and her medical team did not suspect a stroke anyway.
The next morning, Ruff, who was still unable to speak, was able to undergo an MRI scan, which revealed that the cerebellum (the part of the brain located at the base of the skull and responsible for controlling motor function and balance) was almost dead. It turned out that there was. . Doctors quickly realized that even though she was a teenager, she had suffered a stroke that cut off the oxygen supply to part of her brain. An echocardiogram performed later in her months-long hospital stay revealed that a patent foramen ovale (the hole between the left and right sides of the atria, the top of the heart) was likely the culprit. There was found.
The hole usually closes within a few months of birth, but it remains open in about a quarter of children, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). It usually does not cause health problems, so it is often undetected until later in life, as is the case with Raf. In rare cases, if the hole does not close, a blood clot can form and travel to the brain, causing a stroke.
Although strokes in young people like Ruff are rare, strokes in people under 50 are on the rise, according to a review published in . clinical medicine journal.
Despite suffering a stroke, Ruff, now 20, received up to 10 hours a week of speech, occupational, and physical therapy during her first semester of college. She retained her position on the rowing team and was cleared to row again during her spring semester. Shortly after, less than a year after suffering her stroke, she and her teammates finished third at the U.S. Championships.
We spoke with Ruff, a member of AHA Go Red For Women Real Women 2024, to find out how she’s battling heart disease as a young adult and where she’s finding support.
Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Daily Health: Were there any warning signs before your stroke?
Kylie Ruff: There was no warning, not even a few minutes ago. I practiced rowing the day before, and I still have photos of me playing in the snow that morning. When I first went to the hospital, he was tested for three things: performance-enhancing drugs, pregnancy, and alcohol. I can’t blame them because when I see an 18-year-old patient, I don’t think it’s a stroke. I didn’t find out there was a hole in my heart until I had an echocardiogram done later in my hospital stay in New Zealand.
EH: What was it like finding support when you were younger, especially during recovery?
kuala lumpur: Before I had a stroke, I didn’t even know what a stroke was, and after it happened, I found it difficult to get support from people my age. The most common response I got when I told people this was something like, “Is that true?” “Is it just being dramatic?” My main support was my parents, but so was my medical team. And my rowing coach when I got to college knew exactly what it was and was very supportive of me and my recovery.
EH: In addition to finishing my first year of college, I was receiving 5-10 hours of physical, occupational, and speech therapy each week. What kept you motivated while having to juggle all of this?
kuala lumpur: My main motivation was that when I had my stroke, I knew I had worked hard to get to where I am now. I was a D1 athlete recruited by Boston University.Motive did not want this [my stroke] Let it become my new normal. I also wanted to prove wrong the people who looked at me like a girl who doesn’t practice and assumes I’m much slower than them.
EH: What advice do you have for young people who have been diagnosed with heart disease or have had a stroke?
kuala lumpur: Please know that you are not alone. If you want to understand, there are people you can contact. You may feel hopeless because recovery is taking too long. But even if you have small goals, focusing on achieving them will make the recovery process more rewarding.
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