After a sudden stroke, this mum of two has told how her life was changed forever after she suffered a catastrophic stroke in her garden and was incredibly saved by her toddler.
Karen Wiley, from Syracuse, New York, USA, was playing with her son when she collapsed, leaving three-year-old Kip to call 911, informing them she wasn’t responding.
The mom explained that without his quick thinking, her injuries would have been much worse, and her life would have potentially ended.
She said: “As I was pushing him on the swing, I felt or maybe even heard a pop.
“Suddenly, I couldn’t move my head, and everything started spinning. I knew something was very, very wrong.”
“If he didn’t come in the house and get my father, I don’t know what would’ve happened. I mean, all he told the dispatchers was ‘mommy fell down, I think she’s dead.’
“If it wasn’t for him, I would have been dead in the yard.”
After deciding to stay home and play with her son instead of going on a day out she had planned for, Karen started to feel unsteady, and her body started to turn.
Quickly, she hit the ground, with the next thing that she remembered being waking up in hospital, unable to talk, swallow or move.
She told how the part of the brain that controls critical functions like breathing and her heartbeat—had been severely damaged, along with a rupture to her eye, leaving permanent damage on her vision.
Without a guarantee that she’d ever be okay again, Karen was determined to change her situation with the hopes of seeing her kids again.
Through months of intense therapy, she regained partial movement and learned how to walk again—though even today, she still battles with numbness, balance issues, and limited use of her left arm, with her memory of written information also being lost.
She explained how she was told of her toddler’s heroic actions, knowing to dial 911 and grab the attention of his grandfather.
Karen told how she was brought up being taught how to respond to emergencies such as the one she encountered, a lesson she passed onto to Kip.
The mum stayed incredibly proud of her son, forever grateful that he was there to save her life.
She said: “I could hear everything, but I couldn’t respond, I was completely trapped.
“I just wanted to get home to my kids. That was all that mattered.
“I can read a book today and in three months, it’s like I never read it. But I remember my children, our moments together. That’s what matters.”
She added: “My son saved me that day. Because of him, I get to watch my boys grow up.
“The person I was before the stroke is gone. I struggle with emotions now, I snap more, I cry more, but my family has stuck with me.
“My husband stayed; my kids adapted. And I’m still here. And for that, I’m beyond thankful.”