Young Northumberland stroke survivor, 13, supports charity campaign to say “Survival is not enough!”

A stroke survivor from Northumberland is sharing their story ahead of World Stroke Day, as part of a national campaign to spotlight the fragility of the brain and the life-changing impact a stroke can have on people of all ages.

Matilda Stacey was just 13 when she had her stroke. Now, Matilda and her family are raising awareness of stroke as part of the Stroke Association’s ‘Survival Is Not Enough’ campaign.

“It just felt wrong,” Matilda says. “It wasn’t a normal headache. It was constant.”

Matilda was visiting family in the United States when it started. At first, it seemed explainable. Sinus pain. Travel fatigue. A virus, maybe. Doctors agreed. A visit to a local clinic in the US led to a diagnosis of sinusitis.

They were told there was nothing seriously wrong and she was given fluids, antibiotics and was told it was safe to fly home.

However, by the time Matilda landed back in the UK, she had been unwell for more than a week. She couldn’t keep food or drink down. She was exhausted, dehydrated, and barely able to lift her head without pain.

The family flew to Heathrow and had to wait for a few hours until their flight to Newcastle. Her mum and brother William were dropped home and her dad took her straight to the nearest A&E hospital It was late on 16 August 2024 when Matilda was admitted.

However two days later, on 18 August, her mum’s birthday Matilda noticed something that scared her.

“My left leg suddenly went numb,” she says. “I remember thinking, that shouldn’t happen.”

She told the nurses. They checked her circulation and reassured her. A dead leg, they said. She had been in bed too long. It made sense, on the surface. But that moment, unnoticed, unrecognised was the stroke.

Over the next 24 hours, her body began to betray her in ways she couldn’t understand. Words stopped coming out properly. Her thoughts felt scrambled. Her right arm and leg began moving on their own, while the left side of her body grew heavy and unresponsive. She was unable to walk and stopped being able to communicate.

“It was terrifying,” says Matildas Mum, Kimberly. “She couldn’t explain what was happening. She or I couldn’t even understand it. We felt frustrated that no one could explain what was happening. We felt like we had lost her, Matilda wasn’t there with us.”

Fear filled the room, but still, no one said the word stroke.

On 19 August, as Matilda’s condition deteriorated, she was transferred by ambulance to another hospital and admitted to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.

Doctors worked quickly to understand what had gone wrong. Kimberly explained, “They discovered that the infection Matilda had been fighting hadn’t stayed where it was supposed to. It had spread through her meninges, the protective layers around the brain causing vasculitis.”

“We were told Matilda was at high risk of another catastrophic stroke,” Kimberly says. “We were warned not to get our hopes up.”

Matilda spent two weeks in intensive care. During that time, she underwent emergency sinus surgery and had another stroke.

A turning point after her surgery was when Matilda asked for a chocolate milkshake. After not wanting food or drink for more than a fortnight, it was a sign that she was starting to communicate and recover.

When the danger finally began to ease, Matilda was moved out of intensive care but the journey was far from over and she would spend another two months hospital.

Recovery was slow, controlled, and relentless. Her blood pressure had to be kept at a precise level, high enough to push blood through narrowed arteries, but not so high that it risked another stroke.

Physiotherapy became part of everyday life. Simple actions had to be broken down and rebuilt. Matilda had to relearn how to do things people don’t even think about. Eating. Standing up. Walking. Kicking a football.

While Matilda fought to reclaim her body, life outside the hospital carried on without her. She missed the first two months of high school, a time meant to be exciting, full of new beginnings.

Everyone else was starting a new chapter and Matilda was just trying to survive.

Before her stroke, Matilda’s world was movement. She was sporty, energetic, and fiercely competitive. Football wasn’t just something she did, it was part of her identity.

After the stroke, that certainty disappeared. Her body no longer responded the way it once had. Fatigue lingered. Control wasn’t guaranteed.

It was really hard adjusting to her new body. Nothing came easily anymore but Matilda is not someone who gives up.

“I’ve had to work so much harder than before,” she says. “But I’m getting there.”

One of her proudest moments came when she completed her Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award,

“We weren’t sure if she could do it,” says Kimberly. “Finishing it has made us realize how strong she is, and how much she can still do.”

Football found its way back into her life too. After having to take a year off, she returned to mainstream grassroots football. Matilda also now plays for the Newcastle United Cerebral Palsy football team, where she found understanding, opportunity, and belonging.

“Being back on the pitch means everything to me,” she says. “It reminds me that my life didn’t end when I had my stroke.”

Matilda shares her story because she wants people to understand something vital.

“People think strokes only happen to older people,” she says. “But they can happen to anyone. Even kids.”

She wants people to know that recovery isn’t visible and it isn’t quick.

“Just because you’re back at school or look okay doesn’t mean you’re fine,” she says. “It doesn’t just stop.”

Above all, Matilda hopes her story leads to understanding and kindness.

“I want people to be more empathetic,” she says. “You never know what someone has been through.”

In the UK, someone has a stroke every five minutes, with 1.4 million people currently living with a brain injury caused by stroke. More than 85,000 people survive a stroke every year, but recovery is only the beginning. Many face a long and gruelling journey adjusting to the trauma and rebuilding their lives, often left without the essential long-term rehabilitation and support they need.

Despite the life-changing impact of stroke, awareness of its severity and the long-term challenges survivors face remains worryingly low amongst the general public.

Despite one in four strokes happening to people of working age, a third of Brits aged 18-34 (34%) and almost a quarter of 35-44 year olds (24%) believe they’re too young to have one.

The knowledge gap extends to the impact of stroke, with almost a third (32%) unaware that it is a brain injury and nearly one in five (19%) not realising it can cause long-term difficulties with walking, talking, seeing or swallowing. Almost a quarter (22%) underestimate the road to recovery believing it takes just a few months or less.

The Stroke Association’s campaign ‘Survival is Not Enough’ aims to drive awareness of the impact of stroke and support a two-part documentary series commissioned by Channel 4, in partnership with the charity: ‘Trauma: My Broken Brain’. The series follows three young adults, Dan, Saskia and Dec, through the fight of their lives after a life-threatening stroke. ‘Trauma: My Broken Brain’ will be available to stream from Monday 26^th October at 10pm on Channel 4.

Juliet Bouverie OBE, CEO of the Stroke Association, said: “A stroke is a devastating brain injury, leaving behind life-changing trauma. In an instant, a stroke can steal away the things that many of us take for granted, such as walking, talking, eating and living independently; the things that make you, you. This new research shows that people still don’t understand a stroke happens in the brain and wrongly believe a stroke only affects older people.

"A stroke isn't only a medical emergency from which you either die or survive, but instead the start of a long and gruelling journey to rebuilding a life. For so many stroke survivors, the fight doesn’t end when their lives are saved, yet every day survivors and their families are left traumatised and without the long-term rehabilitation and support they need. After everything a stroke takes, no-one should have to fight for essential support to recover and live a full life again.”

As part of the campaign, the Stroke Association unveiled a giant brain carved entirely from ice on London’s Southbank, creating a striking spectacle in the heart of the capital. Standing at 2.5 metres tall, the sculpture, which took 150 hours across five days to create, was designed to represent both the complexity and fragility of the human brain.

The ice brain sculpture will be in place at Southbank’s Observation Point on Monday 26^th and Tuesday 27^th October, with members of the public encouraged to stop, view the installation up close and find out more about the impact of stroke through the stroke survivors’ stories.

1.4 million people are living with a brain injury caused by stroke. Help the Stroke Association change what comes next: www.stroke.org.uk/brain

ENDS

Notes to editors

Survey of 2,000 UK adults conducted by 3Gem in October 2026.

About the Stroke Association

The F.A.S.T acronym (Face, Arms, Speech, Time) is a test to quickly identify the three most common signs of stroke.

• Face weakness: Can the person smile? Has their mouth or eye drooped?
• Arm weakness: Can the person raise both arms fully and keep them there?
• Speech problems: Can the person speak clearly and understand what you say? Is their speech slurred?
• Time to call 999: if you see any one of these signs.

Over 85,000 people survive a stroke every year in the UK, but surviving a stroke is just the start of a long and gruelling recovery journey.

Mums, dads, grandparents, young people, even children – anyone can have a stroke, and its impact is traumatic.

Brain injury, caused by a stroke, can leave survivors unable to move, see, speak or even swallow.

The Stroke Association is the leading charity in the UK providing life-long support for all stroke survivors and their families. We provide tailored support to tens of thousands of stroke survivors each year, fund vital scientific research, and campaign to secure the best care for everyone affected by stroke.

Anyone affected by stroke can visit stroke.org.uk or call our dedicated Stroke Support Helpline on 0303 3033 100 for information, guidance or a chat when times are tough.

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