JUST last month, Louie Clark was at football practice when he began feeling dizzy and started vomiting.
By the time he’d got home, the seven-year-old had lost the use of his legs and was unable to talk, at which point his parents Ben, 36, and Lindsey Clark, 35, rushed him to Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.
Louie Clark felt dizzy and started vomiting while at football practice[/caption]
Test revealed he’d suffered a stroke and needed surgery to remove the blood clots and part of his skull[/caption]
It was there it was discovered Louie had suffered a stroke and required surgery to remove the blood clots.
A second operation was then needed to remove part of his skull to reduce swelling that hadn’t subsided.
Louie’s operations were a success and he’s now working with physiotherapists to regain his speech and movement – which he lost the majority of down the right side of his body.
In the weeks before the stroke, Louie complained of a brief period of dizziness and blurred vision – which doctors now believe could have been ‘warning strokes’.
Ben, a finished products assistant, from Knottingley, Yorkshire said: “It’s been a terrible week as you can imagine but for me personally I don’t think it’s really hit me yet.
“It has helped in a way that I’ve got three other boys at home – Jordan, 14, Dylan, 12 and Ethan, four – the importance of keeping a routine for them has kept me on autopilot in a way.
“Lindsey has been rock solid to be fair.
“It’s affected us both and once Louie is out of hospital we have suggested maybe trying to sort some family counselling out to talk about this whole process as a family.”
A fundraiser has been launched by Liam Charles, Louie’s football coach, to support the family financially while the schoolboy recovers.
Louie suffered from the stroke on February 24, but had suffered from symptoms in the week before.
Louie’s dizziness and blurred vision at football practice cleared within 10 minutes.
Ben said: “One of the clots that they removed was around his vision area of the brain.
“So they’re not saying it’s definite but there’s a very high chance he was having a warning stroke.
“But if a seven-year-old old says to you he has blurry vision in one eye, we book an eye appointment for him, and then 10 minutes later he’s up playing football again.
“They’re at that age where they can bend the truth a little bit.
“So that’s why I want to raise awareness.
Strokes in children are more common than you think
Ben Clark
“Strokes in children are more common than you think according to doctors, but for the general public, everyone I’ve spoken to doesn’t know anyone who’s had a stroke.”
Ben and Lindsey say doctors are confident Louie will regain speech and movement but it may take a number of months.
Ben said: “After the first surgery it was showing signs of the swelling on his brain becoming worse so he had to undergo a second operation to remove part of his skull to reduce the swelling.
“Luckily, he pulled that through that op and the swelling got better and he’s now on the neurological ward.
“He’s the only child in here who’s had a stroke but doctors are over the moon with him at the minute.
“He’s slowly but surely understanding that he can talk again but without opening his mouth – his brain can’t tell his lips and his tongue to move.
His dad Ben Clark is confident Louie’s speech and movement will come back[/caption]
A fundraiser has been launched by Liam Charles, Louie’s football coach, to support the family financially while he recovers[/caption]
“They’re pretty confident that the speech and movement will come back but we’ve been told it might take a few months.
“The section of his brain that took the most damage was the balance area so they’re working on getting him sat up unaided.
“Everyone at Leeds General Infirmary has been incredibly amazing.
“From the day he got here, the operations, surgeons, staff and especially a nurse called Chelsea.
“The NHS gets a bad rep sometimes but this just shows that there are still diamonds in the system.”
Football coach Liam’s fundraiser has so far raised over £4,500.
Liam said: “He’s brilliant.
“I’ve coached him since he was five and he’s genuinely one of the most talented and skilfully gifted kids I’ve seen.
“He’s such a likeable little kid – I’ve never seen a kid obsessive over football as much as him.
“We’re unsure on the full extent of damage so I wanted to get ahead of that and ease any financial burden for them.
“I just want to get in front for them and have funds ready and available.
“The ideal for me within a couple of months he’s back to full health and they can have a dream trip, but we just don’t want them to worry about financials.
“My friends and I are also going to be doing the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge (26 miles) for Louie.”
On the fundraiser, Ben said: “It’s really nice what Liam’s done for us. The respect between Louie and Liam is so genuine.”
You can support Louie’s fundraiser by clicking here.
What are the symptoms of stroke?
The FAST method – which stands for Face, Arms, Speech, Time – is the easiest way to remember the most common symptoms of stroke:
F = Face drooping – if one side of a person’s face is dropped or numb then ask them to smile, if it’s uneven then you should seek help.
A = Arm weakness – if one arm is weak or numb then you should ask the person to raise both arms. If one arm drifts downwards then you might need to get help
S = Speech difficulty – if a person’s speech is slurred then this could be a sign of a stroke
T = Time to call 999 – if a person has the signs above then you need to call 999 in the UK or 911 in the US for emergency care.
Other symptoms include:
- sudden weakness or numbness on one side of the body
- difficulty finding words
- sudden blurred vision or loss of sight
- sudden confusion, dizziness or unsteadiness
- a sudden and severe headache
- difficulty understanding what others are saying
- difficulty swallowing
