Concern over stroke misconceptions
1 May 2019, 08:44 | Updated: 3 May 2019, 05:26
A woman from Chelmsford who suffered a haemorrhagic stroke at the age of 29 has told Heart that misconceptions about strokes are still all too common.
Erin Losty had to teach herself how to walk again after her experience in April 2012.
New research has found around a quarter (27%) of the UK do not actually recognise that strokes occur in the brain - highlighting a nationwide lack of knowledge around Britain's fourth biggest killer.
The Stroke Association is concerned that such major misconceptions are inhibiting family and friend's ability to support their loved ones.
"Everybody knows the FAST campaign - and that's a typical type of stroke, and people seem to know that," said Erin.
"But they don't know that other types of strokes can happen like mine.
"Also that it can happen to anybody at any age. I was quite young - I was 29. My career was just starting, I was just starting to make sense of my life when it all happened.
"You can rebuild your life after (a stroke).
"You can get to where you want to go. It might be a new place that you go to or that you want to go to but you can still get there, and that is really important."
