Runcorn mum, 29, warns 'you're never too young' for stroke

Jess Tierney with husband David Tierney and their two sons

A mum-of-two has warned "you're never too young" to have a stroke after she collapsed at work at the age of 29.

Jess Tierney, from Runcorn, said she felt lucky to be alive and now wanted to raise awareness among her peers.

Paramedics initially thought she was having a panic attack or Bell's Palsy, a temporary paralysis of muscles in the face.

But scans showed a blockage in her brain and she underwent surgery to remove the blood clot.

Ms Tierney, who works in teaching recruitment, said she was experiencing shoulder pain while driving to work one morning in February, but put it down to a strain from her pole fitness class.

During her lunch break she developed a headache and her mouth and tongue went numb on one side.

"I was eating my dinner and started developing a headache in my temples," she said.

"I took some paracetamol and it wouldn't go away. At about 2.30pm, I collapsed.

"It was a good job I wasn't at home alone."

She said she had none of the traditional risk factors for stroke as she was a healthy weight, stayed fit and did not smoke, adding: "You're never too young to have a stroke."

Jess Tierney feared she was being "dramatic" before collapsing at work

Ms Tierney underwent a thrombectomy, where blood clots are surgically removed from the artery, at the Walton Centre in Liverpool.

They are usually performed within six hours of symptoms appearing, but the window can be extended to 24 hours in selected patients.

She said: "We were waiting quite a while. At this point, I'd been told I had a clot on my brain so I was quite scared."

Jess Tierney with Doctor Souhyb Masri at the Walton Centre

Doctor Souhyb Masri, a consultant interventional neuroradiologist at the Walton Centre, said: "Whenever someone experiences a stroke, getting it treated in the right way quickly is of paramount importance.

"Jess having the procedure means she can rehabilitate as best she can, and I'm confident she will continue to recover well."

In October 2021, The Walton Centre became the first facility in the north-west of England to offer thrombectomies to stroke patients 24/7 and it has since carried out almost 400 procedures.

According to the NHS, people over the age of 55 are more likely to have a stroke, although one in five occur in younger people.