Support launched for paramedic who had sudden stroke

2 hours ago

Elisha Oakley is "a fantastic partner to Olie" and "a wonderful mum to their three-year-old son Freddie", Lissie Broom said

Family handout Elisha Oakley smiling for a picture outside while sitting on a bench, leaning next to her partner. He is not seen in the picture. There is some greenery behind her. — Elisha Oakley is "a fantastic partner to Olie" and "a wonderful mum to their three-year-old son Freddie", Lissie Broom said

The friend of a paramedic who suffered a sudden stroke at a young age has started a fundraising page in support of her family.

Elisha Oakley, 24, had emergency surgery at Southampton General Hospital on 29 May to have a stent fitted to restore blood flow to her brain.

Lissie Broom, the aunt of her fiancé, Oliver, said the young woman remained in the neurology intensive care unit and faced "a long recovery road".

Broom said she wanted to raise awareness of Oakley's story and help in her "time of crisis".

She described her as "a fantastic partner to Olie" and "a wonderful mum to their three-year-old son Freddie".

Broom said on the day it all happened, Oakley had suddenly felt "incredibly unwell" and the first sign had been her being sick.

Oakley had experienced some neck pain for a few day but had put it off thinking it could be due to working hard.

She managed to tell her fiancé that her arm and leg were tingling and he called an ambulance and the hospital later confirmed she had had a posterior circulation stroke.

"There was nothing that my nephew could do to even be able to identify what was happening," Broom said.

The family friend recalled having been "dumbfounded" at the news.

"I thought, 'How can this happen to such a young, healthy, fit paramedic?'," she said.

"She went into surgery immediately, but unfortunately, even on Saturday, she really didn't come around as much as they wanted her to and that's when she was fitted with the ventilator."

Broom said Oakley's son Freddie had seen his mum for the first time since she was hospitalised on Friday

Family handout A child's hand seeing holding his mother's hand, who is in a hospital bed. — Broom said Oakley's son Freddie had seen his mum for the first time since she was hospitalised on Friday

On Friday, Freddie saw his mum for the first time since she was hospitalised - a visit which Broom described as "very emotional".

Oakley is now on physiotherapy and Broom wrote on the fundraising page that they were looking "at a long recovery road".

"She's the person that is there to help everybody else in their time of crisis and to be able to support somebody like that in their time of crisis is so important."

She added that one of their goals once they reached "a comfortable place with Elisha's recovery" was to donate any leftover funds to the hospital's neurology centre.