Ten minutes after taking a selfie, a mother-of-one suffered a stroke that left her fighting for her life.
Moments after taking the snap, Debbie Schofield, 37, from Hertfordshire, complained of a pounding headache before her eyes rolled back in her head and she was fighting for her life.
Ms Schofield, who was on a family Christmas train journey on December 16 last year, only survived due to her mother Janet Walker, 64, recognising the symptoms of a stroke after seeing a FAST NHS advert on Facebook.
After being rushed to hospital, Ms Schofield spent weeks paralysed and unable to speak while she recovered at a rehabilitation centre.
Ms Schofield, who spent Christmas Day in hospital, and her daughter Millie, five, who was there at the time of the incident, have been forced to move back in with her parents as the senior scientific officer is still barely able to communicate.
The mother-of-one credits Ms Walker’s quick thinking for saving her life, saying, ‘It’s shocking to think that one minute we were posing for a picture and the next thing I was nearly dead. In fact, if it wasn’t for mum, I would be dead.’
Ms Walker shared her daughter’s selfie online to raise awareness of stroke in young people.
Around one stroke occurs every five minutes in the UK.
Janet Walker (far right) has revealed the selfie her daughter Debbie Schofield (far left) took just minutes before her stroke (also pictured Ms Schofield’s daughter Millie Schofield, niece Emily Makani and sister Nicky Makai). She later complained of a pounding headache
‘I just thought FAST’
Speaking of Ms Schofield’s symptoms, her mother said: ‘Instinctively, I knew Debbie was having a stroke.
‘I just thought FAST – which stands for Facial drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulties and Time to call emergency services.
‘Seeing Debbie’s face droop, I asked if she could speak. She started to, but her words, which had been fine minutes earlier, were slurring.
‘Then, I asked [her] to lift up her arm, which she couldn’t, even though 10 minutes before she’d picked up her arm to take the selfie of us all.
‘Then I thought, “Time to call the emergency services”, and ordered Nicky Makani, my other daughter, downstairs. She told the driver to stop the bus and call an ambulance, which arrived within 15 minutes.’
Ms Schofield was rushed to hospital after her face starting to droop, her speech slur and her eyes roll back into her head (pictured surrounded by her family on Christmas Day)
Ms Schofield spent weeks paralysed and unable to speak while she recovered at a rehab centre (pictured with her daughter Millie, who was there at the time of the stroke)
‘I’ve been told I saved her life’
According to doctors, Ms Walker remembered the FAST acronym in the nick of time.
She said: ‘I’ve been told I saved her life and that’s brilliant to hear.
‘Until this happened, we were having a lovely day. Every year a special festive train, with people dressed in Christmas outfits, travels from North Weald to Ongar in Essex.
‘The children wanted to go on it, so we planned it as a special treat ahead of December 25; getting to the station on an old Routemaster bus.
‘We were all wearing reindeer ears and were about 10 minutes into our journey, not far from the station, when Debbie had the stroke.’
Although still unable to fully communicate, Ms Schofield (pictured with her family, including her father Grahame) has been discharged from hospital and has moved in with her parents
Ms Schofield’s sister Nicky Makani (pictured) initially dismissed her symptoms as a hangover
‘She could barely speak and was totally paralysed’
When paramedics arrived at the scene, they had to carefully manoeuvre Ms Schofield down the narrow staircase of the historic 1960s bus while she drifted in and out of consciousness.
Ms Walker said: ‘Around five paramedics sat with her on the top deck.
‘I was with the children, who were obviously scared. Eventually they managed to get Debbie on to a blow-up stretcher, which they twisted down the stairs.’
Ms Schofield was taken by ambulance, with her sister, to Queen’s Hospital in Romford, Essex, while Ms Walker dropped the children off with their family.
Ms Walker said: ‘A later CT scan showed a tear in an artery in her neck.
‘They think this is where the stroke started. They gave her blood-thinning drugs and she slept and slept.’
A few days later, Ms Schofield was well enough to be transferred to Barnet General Hospital in North London, before later being taken to a rehabilitation centre near where she lives.
Ms Walker said: ‘She spent weeks there and was so brave.
‘She had two weeks of intensive rehabilitation before she was allowed home.
‘She could barely speak and was totally paralysed down the right side of her body.’
At the end of January, Ms Schofield was discharged and moved in with her mother and father Grahame, 68.
Ms Walker said: ‘We have her and Millie with us now. Grahame is helping her with her speech therapy. I couldn’t, we would giggle too much.’
Ms Walker posted the selfie on Facebook to raise awareness of strokes in the young
Millie, who found the incident very frightening, has also moved in with her grandparents
‘I want people to be aware this can happen to anyone’
Posting the selfie on Facebook, Ms Walker wrote: ‘I felt I just had to post this.
’10 mins after this pic was taken my daughter Debbie had a major stroke.
‘She was perfectly fine before this happened and she is only 37.
‘I am so happy to say that she is making an excellent recovery, but I want people to be aware that this can happen to anyone young and old and if I hadn’t see the post on here about strokes and known to act fast, it may have been a different story, so please read this.’
Ms Makani, 41, a check-out operator, is also keen for people to become familiar with the signs of a stroke.
She said: ‘At first, when she said she had a headache in the car, I thought it was a hangover, because she had been out the night before.
‘Then, suddenly, she got really sick and mum realised it was a stroke.
‘Now I want everyone to know about the signs. If you do, you can dial 999. The quicker the better.’
Ms Schofield added: ‘I want all people to know about FAST. It could save your life.’