A mother who suffered a stroke and was admitted to intensive care with sepsis on Christmas Day in 2024 has been left feeling “nervous rather than excited” this festive season.
Holly Dougan, an early years teacher from Liverpool, began experiencing neck pains and headaches, but did “not think too much of it”.
On Christmas morning, she collapsed, her speech became slurred, she felt dizzy, and she had a “really sharp pain” on the left side of her head, down to her left arm.
The then-27-year-old knew “something wasn’t right” and was taken to Aintree University Hospital via ambulance, where a CT scan confirmed she had suffered a stroke caused by a tear in her left coronary artery.
At first, she thought she could not have had a stroke because of her age, and was “just in total shock” and could not help but think she was burdening her family, including her husband, Gary, 29, on Christmas Day.
Her condition rapidly deteriorated as she developed heart failure, a lung infection and sepsis, spending Christmas Day in intensive care and later being diagnosed with takotsubo cardiomyopathy, meaning her heart muscle changed shape and suddenly weakened.
Over the following weeks, she had to relearn how to walk and recover her strength, eventually celebrating a delayed Christmas with her family in January 2025.
Despite Holly’s “trauma”, she is determined to make this Christmas “magical” for her daughter, Isabella, two.
“I struggled with the mental side of things more than the physical – it was just such a big shock, and I was totally fine the day before it happened,” she said.
“It makes you realise how quickly things can change and I didn’t like the feeling of feeling out of control in my own body.
“I was worried I was burdening my family and making them worry, and they had to drop everything on Christmas Day, too.
“I had no idea what was going to happen or if I was going to survive, really – it was so scary.
“I think I feel nervous rather than excited this year.”
Holly’s health troubles began in the run-up to Christmas last year when she experienced pain on the left side of her neck, which she believed was causing her headaches.
She visited her GP on December 12 and was diagnosed with a migraine – at the time, Holly did “not think too much of it” and continued taking pain relief medication.
On Christmas Eve 2024, Holly and Gary took Isabella to see some Christmas lights and “put carrots outside for Santa’s reindeer”.
The family went to bed “so excited” for the next day, wearing matching Christmas pyjamas.
At 5am on Christmas morning, Isabella woke up, but Holly decided it “was a bit early” to start the day and settled her back down.
Holly returned to bed and “felt fine” until waking again at 8.30am to get her daughter up.
“I got to her bedroom door and my legs just went from beneath me, and I felt really dizzy,” Holly recalled.
“I managed to get myself back into bed but I got a really sharp pain on the left side of my head and down my left arm.
“I said to Gary ‘I need an ambulance’ – I never thought I was having a stroke, but I knew something wasn’t right, and I was really scared.”
So, Holly called an ambulance and was on the phone for around six minutes, and approximately two minutes later, the paramedics arrived at their door.
Holly said: “I remember my face felt a bit funny, and had started to droop at this point and I couldn’t swallow and the muscles in my throat weren’t working – I was trying to be sick but nothing was happening.
“My speech did go quite slurred and I remember the paramedics saying my symptoms pointed to a stroke.
“I remember saying I’m 27 – I can’t be having a stroke.”
Holly was rushed to Aintree University Hospital, where a CT scan confirmed she had suffered a stroke.
Doctors later confirmed her stroke was caused by a tear in her left coronary artery, which supplies oxygen-rich blood to the left side of the heart.
“Doctors said my headaches and pain in my neck might have been linked – it could have been the start of it,” Holly added.
“There’s nothing to say that if the GP sent me to have some scans they would have picked anything up at the time though, or if they would have been able to do anything to prevent it.”
Holly then received thrombolysis – medication used to dissolve blood clots blocking arteries or veins – but began to feel “very tired” as her parents and siblings rushed from Stockport to see her.
She also noticed she was “breathing really quickly” before being surrounded by a team of medical staff, as she was aspirating on her vomit, meaning she was inhaling vomit or stomach contents into her lungs.
Following further tests, doctors discovered she had experienced heart failure, developed a lung infection and was suffering from sepsis.
She was taken into intensive care, all on Christmas Day.
Holly was then diagnosed with takotsubo cardiomyopathy, which, according to the British Heart Foundation, is a condition where the heart muscle changes shape and suddenly weakens, usually triggered by severe emotional or physical stress.
She said: “In intensive care, I was on 80 per cent oxygen but they managed to eventually wean it down so I didn’t need it anymore.
“It was all just a blur and quite dramatic.”
While in intensive care, she also required an NG tube – a thin plastic tube inserted through the nostril and down to the stomach – as she was still struggling to swallow.
She had the tube for around a week, and once her speech “went back to normal”, she moved on to a pureed diet.
After five days in intensive care, Holly remained in hospital for around three weeks for monitoring.
Throughout this period, her body was “weak” and she had to “learn how to walk again”, using both a frame and a walking stick.
When she was eventually discharged and returned home, she, Gary and Isabella celebrated Christmas on January 21 – by then she was able to walk unaided.
She said: “Gary left all the decorations up, and we hadn’t even opened our presents!
“I found it hard, though. I didn’t want to get into bed because it reminded me of that day.
“I had to throw away my Christmas pyjamas because I just found them too triggering.”
She went on to have weekly counselling sessions because of her “traumatic experience” and is currently on the waiting list to receive further support from the Stroke Association.
This Christmas, Holly, Isabella and Gary will be going to Gary’s family’s home in Northern Ireland, and Holly is looking forward to “being in a different house”.
Main symptoms of a stroke
The main symptoms of a stroke may include:
- face weakness – one side of your face may droop (fall) and it might be hard to smile
- arm weakness – you may not be able to fully lift both arms and keep them there because of weakness or numbness in 1 arm
- speech problems – you may slur your words or sound confused
The easiest way to remember these symptoms is the word FAST. This stands for: face, arms, speech and time to call 999.
There are other signs that you or someone else is having a stroke. These include:
- weakness or numbness down 1 side of your body
- blurred vision or loss of sight in 1 or both eyes
- finding it difficult to speak or think of words
- confusion and memory loss
- feeling dizzy or falling over
- a severe headache
- feeling or being sick (nausea or vomiting)
According to the Stroke Association, for another 85,000 people in the UK, this year will be their first Christmas after a stroke.
The charity’s new film shares stroke survivors’ experiences of facing Christmas after a stroke.
Holly explained: “I think there needs to be more awareness about it (having a stroke) – when I was in hospital, I was just in shock.
“I’ll be keeping Christmas magical for the kids, but I probably will need a few minutes on my own on Christmas Day to have a cry.
“I feel like it’ll be a big milestone, that first anniversary, and I’ll be thinking about what happened that time last year.”
The Stroke Association is the leading charity in the UK providing lifelong support for all stroke survivors and their families.
This Christmas, you can help the Stroke Association support more stroke survivors at every step of their recovery.
Watch the Christmas film and give the gift of stroke support by visiting www.stroke.org.uk/stillchristmas.
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