'Mommy has klapst': Telford girl, 6, saved mother's life with a text

When Sarah Whitehead fell to the ground after suffering a stroke, her daughter Ava might easily have panicked.

Paramedics, doctors and family members today hailed the youngster a heroine and told the mother-of-two that she could have died or been left wheelchairbound if the youngster hadn't acted so quickly.

Sarah is just 36 and her story illustrates the fact that people can suffer a stroke at any age. The condition has been highlighted this week with the news that England football legend Jimmy Greaves, who is in his mid 70s, has suffered a severe stroke.

A stroke is a serious, life-threatening medical condition that occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is cut off. The main symptoms of stroke can be remembered with the word FAST: Face-Arms-Speech-Time.

• Face – the face may have dropped on one side, the person may not be able to smile or their mouth or eye may have dropped.

• Arms – the person with suspected stroke may not be able to lift both arms and keep them there because of arm weakness or numbness in one arm.

• Speech – their speech may be slurred or garbled, or the person may not be able to talk at all despite appearing to be awake.

• Time – it is time to dial 999 immediately if you see any of these signs.

But American actor Frankie Muniz, who stars in Malcolm in the Middle, is just 29 and he has suffered two mini-strokes. And Sharon Stone was just 41 when she fell ill with a stroke.

Sarah was fit and well before she collapsed suddenly and with no warning.

There was no-one else at home other than Ava and her little sister Belle when Sarah felt disorientated and fell onto the floor by their car. They had been about to go about their usual morning routine and go to school and nursey.

As her mother lay on the ground unable to move, Ava knew her father was not due to arrive home from work for several hours.

But the youngster remained calm in a crisis and following attempts to phone her father Damian and an attempt to message her grandmother Gill saying "Mommy has klapst" she ran to a neighbour's house over the road to get help.

Luckily, their neighbour Pam Bancroft, of Horton Lane, Telford, was home and the pair ran back to dial for emergency services. In the meantime, Ava's three-year-old sister Belle stayed with their mother, talked to her to keep her calm and told her everything was going to be okay.

Sarah, who owns her own financial business, was today warning people to be aware that strokes can happen at any age and anyone.

She has hailed her daughter a heroine and said that without her quick thinking she may never have been able to walk again. She had been putting the children in the car on March 18 when disaster struck and she began to feel extremely disorientated.

"Why are you talking funny mummy?", was the question Belle had asked earlier that morning as Sarah put her shoes on.

Sarah said: "We were just getting ready and putting Belle's shoes on and my speech went funny.

"We went out of the house to the car and I started to stumble about as I tried to put them in the car.

"I couldn't work out what was going on. I've never had poor health before and I'm a fit and healthy person. I just felt really ill.

"I went to walk back into the house and I collapsed. All I can remember is being really disorientated and then Pam coming over.

"Ava had tried to call her dad and her grandmother and then ran over the road to my neighbour. I can't believe what a bright little girl she is. This all happened at 8.10am and we live in a very rural area. If Ava hadn't have managed to get Pam I don't know what would have happened. I had fallen in a place that no-one could see from the road.

"The paramedics, doctors and everyone I have spoken to have called Ava a real hero. I don't think she even knows how brave she was, she told Pam I'd fallen over and hurt my leg and even tried to send a text to my mum saying 'Mommy has klapst', which I found in my 'failed to send' box on my phone days later."

Paramedics arrived at their home and by this time the left side of Sarah's body had drooped but they thought she seemed far to young to be suffering from a stroke. It was while she was being treated that her husband Damian rushed back from work at a company called Fruesh in Shifnal.

Sarah said: "By the time Damian had got home I was sitting with the paramedics and my left side had completely dropped, my speech was slurred, my face was tingling and I felt so disorientated. I'd lost complete use of the left side of my body. He was in complete shock – I'd never experienced anything like it before."

She was rushed to Telford's Princess Royal Hospital where she was given a drug known as tPA, which must be given in the first few hours after a stroke.

Sarah was then taken to hospital in Stoke-on-Trent, where she stayed for one night and had further tests and treatments.

Today, Sarah has to take medication that thins the blood. She suffers from memory loss, balance issues and coordination but says it could have been much worse.

Sarah has now thrown her weight behind Stroke Awareness Month, which takes place throughout May.

She said: "I had a stroke and it came completely without warning. The paramedics said that I was showing signs of a stroke but that it was unlikely because I am so young."

Sarah said: "Ava managed to get me some help so that I got to hospital within the 'golden hour' – if she hadn't have done this they said I may have has some real serious long-term health problems."

In stroke care, the term "golden hour" is used to designate the hour immediately following the onset of stroke symptoms.

Little Ava, who attends The Old Hall School in Wellington, and Belle, who goes to Earlyworld Nursery in Hadley Park, have now returned to life as normal. Sarah said: "I'm so proud of both of them. It's all back to normal now and they are doing all the things all little girls like to do."