'It was crippling': mother had stroke at 36, but it was misdiagnosed (2024)

Kate Bucknell was 36-years-old when she suffered a stroke and was misdiagnosed at the hospital with a virus.

The left side of her face drooped, she couldn't lift her left arm and her speech was slurred.

"I remember calling out to the lounge room to my parents saying, 'I feel like I've had a stroke, but I haven't'," Mrs Bucknell said.

It comes as new research found people living in regional areas were 17 per cent more likely to suffer a stroke than those living in metropolitan areas.

The statistic is alarmingly high when around 80 per cent of strokes are considered preventable.

"Unfortunately, the difference between a strong recovery or a lengthy rehabilitation may come down to where the person lives, and the hospital where they're treated," Professor Dominique Cadilhac of Monash University and The Florey said.

Like many others, Mrs Bucknell didn't realise strokes weren't just an "old person thing" - they could happen to anyone.

"My stroke wasn't picked up until two weeks later when I went for a scan [because] I hadn't fully recovered," she said.

The postcode lottery for stroke care

A shortage of doctors and medical resources in regional areas, not to mention geographical limitations, means people living in these areas are faced with unique challenges.

A "robust" stroke unit was fundamental for critical stroke management, Launceston General Hospital (LGH) stroke department head Dr Dinesh Tryambake said.

"All over the world, they have shown that stroke patients who are managed in a stroke unit perform better than patients who are managed on general medical wards," Dr Tryambake said.

Many patients, particularly in regional areas, were missing out on appropriate stroke care, leading brain research centre The Florey found.

Australian Stroke Clinical Registry (AuSCR) data showed at least 90 per cent of patients should be managed in a stroke unit, but only 61 per cent of regional patients received this care compared to 80 per cent of metropolitan patients.

Dr Tryambake said another factor was those living regionally were less likely to prioritise their health and not look after secondary stroke prevention.

"People probably don't look after the risk factors as well as people in metropolitan areas and that might be the reason we have higher rates of stroke," Dr Tryambake said.

"Major stroke risk factors [include] blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, irregular heart rhythm, high cholesterol. If you take care of those factors, certainly the incidence will be less."

In 2023, the LGH stroke unit was the first in Tasmania - and one of three units in Australia at the time - to receive accreditation from the Australian Stroke Coalition Stroke Unit Certification Project.

Know the signs, think FAST

Mrs Bucknell had been on the mend from a nasty flu and was at home with her two young children, three and seven-years-old at the time.

While she knew the stroke signs and the F.A.S.T. acronym - Face, Arms, Speech, Time - Mrs Bucknell didn't think it could happen to someone of her age and health.

"I knew what it looked like, but I just wasn't aware of the impact on younger people. I didn't realise that every stroke was different to every person," she said.

She said it was critical that people understand strokes could happen at any age - even babies in the womb can suffer a stroke.

Since surviving her stroke eight years ago, Mrs Bucknell has made it her mission to advocate for stroke awareness and education, especially in young people.

Thankfully, she's has gone on to live a regular, healthy life. The probable cause of her stroke - a small defect on her heart - means she takes long-term blood thinners to reduce the likelihood of another stroke.

"I'm comfortable with having lifelong medication to make sure I don't have another one, it doesn't impact me at all," Mrs Bucknell said.

"So I run and walk the dog and all those sorts of things on a daily basis."

Dr Dinesh and Mrs Bucknell stressed the importance of stroke education and remembering to think F.A.S.T.