Elena Lampropoulos, a bubbly, energetic 20-year-old from south-west Sydney, had her life turned completely upside down after suffering a major stroke just a few weeks after turning 20. On the day of her stroke, she was at home in her bedroom, focused on her phone. This abrupt occurrence was a first step along an extremely long path filled with extensive physical rehabilitation and the transformation of emotional resilience.
The stroke was due to an arteriovenous malformation (AVM). Tragically, this same condition would take the life of another world-class athlete, young Lucy Markoiv, earlier this year. What Elena’s experience has shown her is how devastating strokes can be for young people. It brings home the essential need to recognize symptoms early.
The Collapse and Initial Response
So when Elena’s life came to a grinding halt in May of this year when she unexpectedly collapsed in her bedroom. She vividly recalls the moment, stating, “I looked at my right leg and I couldn’t move it. I remember just screaming, like a scream I’ve never heard come out of my mouth.”
Even with her terror and pronounced symptoms, Elena was met with doubt by the medical personnel. “She goes, ‘You’re 20 and you think you’re having a stroke?’ and then she scoffed at me,” she recounted about a nurse’s dismissive response. And this failure to adequately communicate was what ultimately made her feel like she was a nuisance and an outcast.
Elena’s stroke resulted in hemiparesis, as she had weakness on her right side. Her complex condition involved multiple rehabilitative and therapeutic modalities, often forcing her to relearn movement and use–essentially everything–from scratch. In her two-month hospital stay, she experienced for the first time the burdens of being a youth. She was a striking presence in the neurological ward, the youngest patient while the next closest in age being 65 years old.
The Long Road to Recovery
Like many other SCLERDS Elena experienced obstacles throughout her recovery journey. For five years, her personal focus was forced entirely onto rehabilitation, postponing her education and career. Reflecting on this period, she expressed feelings of isolation: “I was 20 and I was alone. I had no one to relate to.”
The difference between her circumstances and those of her friends and classmates was crushing to her. “I was a mess because again, being 20, you’re stuck in a hospital and you see on Instagram everyone’s having a great time,” she lamented. After long hours of rehabilitation, she often found herself questioning her life and progress: “And you’re sitting there after eight hours of rehab … just going, ‘What is my life?’”
Mark Davies, Elena’s neurosurgeon, said younger patients like Elena tend to go downhill faster than their older counterparts. This was particularly difficult as Elena was trying to figure out the new realities of stroke recovery at such a young age.
Raising Awareness and Supporting Others
Understanding the lack of ongoing community support for younger stroke survivors, Elena made her mission clear. Drawing from these experiences, she started providing stroke recovery coaching to assist others who are dealing with the same challenges. She aims to raise awareness that strokes can strike at any age, urging young people to prioritize their health. “What we encourage people to do, even if they are young and they think they’re invincible, is to go and get a health check with a GP,” said Dr. Lisa Murphy.
Elena’s work is motivated by her own experience understanding the seriousness of strokes on younger people. “Yes, this happened to me, but it doesn’t mean it can’t happen to you,” she stated firmly.
Her path to success hasn’t been easy, though. Despite making significant strides in her recovery, regaining movement in her right foot ten years after the stroke, she still battles anger and frustration about her circumstances. “I felt like giving up … I was angry about the whole situation,” she confessed.
Elena has focused on her recovery—both the physical and emotional, for the past two years. Over the past six months, she has learned to accept her new reality. Her story should serve as a wakeup call that strokes can happen to anyone. More importantly, it sheds light on the importance of raising awareness and educating others on this often-overlooked issue.
