Japan · Asia Post
A mother whose newborn daughter suffered a stroke is raising awareness of the life-changing impact the condition can have at any age. Maya, from Goole, East Yorkshire, had a stroke in early 2024 when she was just three days old. Nearly three years later, her mother, Zoe Frodsham, has shared the challenges her family has faced since, hoping their story will offer reassurance to others in a similar situation.
"Because she can walk and talk, people assume she is fine," Zoe said. "But brain injuries are not always visible. Progress does not erase what happened." In January 2024, Zoe and her partner found themselves in A&E, watching Maya have a seizure that lasted 30 minutes.
Zoe said she was terrified. "At just three days old, our newborn baby had had a stroke," she said. The couple were told about the lifelong consequences including visual impairment, hearing loss, mobility issues, developmental delay and epilepsy.
"A nurse told us to 'Take time to grieve the life you expected', and we did grieve while she was still lying in front of us," Zoe added. Zoe is highlighting the Stroke Association's Survival Is Not Enough campaign, which aims to highlight the life-changing impact strokes can have on people of all ages. She said the charity had been a valuable source of support for her family.
"It was a massive help to have someone to talk to who had some understanding of what was going on," she said. Zoe wants people to understand that strokes can affect anyone – even newborn babies. According to the charity, every five minutes in the UK someone has a stroke, with 1.4 million people living with a subsequent brain injury.
The charity's Juliet Bouverie, CEO of the Stroke Association, said: "For so many stroke survivors, the fight doesn't end when their lives are saved, yet every day survivors and their families are left traumatised and without the long-term rehabilitation and support they need. "After everything a stroke takes, no-one should have to fight for essential support to recover and live a full life again." Zoe said: "At first everything seems worst-case [scenario], but you find ways to overcome and cope with whatever struggles might come your way. "Maya is our miracle, but pride and trauma can exist together.
"While Maya has made some incredible progress and we are immensely proud of her, the effects of her stroke and the impact on our family haven't simply gone away. "We're still trying to navigate the challenges and uncertainties of childhood stroke without the support we hoped would be available." Maya's story features in the Channel 4 documentary Trauma: My Broken Brain. Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds , and watch the latest episode of Look North .
Source: BBC
