Derry: Singer Roisin Quinn, who had stroke at 14, finds her voice again

Roisin is now studying performing arts at Derry's North West Regional College

Growing up, 18-year-old Roisin Quinn loved to sing. She harboured dreams of performing in the West End, of having a career singing professionally.

But one night four years ago, everything changed for the Londonderry teenager.

At the age of just 14, Roisin woke from her sleep unable to move or speak. She had suffered a stroke.

"I reached forward and fell out of my bed. I couldn't get up, I couldn't speak either, I couldn't call out for help," Roisin told BBC Radio Foyle's The North West Today programme.

It was 05:00, the rest of her family was asleep.

"I kind of hummed for my mummy to get her attention," she said.

Luckily, Roisin added, her mum came in.

"She didn't know it was a stroke. She saw my mouth was slightly drooped.

"She said: 'Can you reach your arms out? Can you speak? Can you put out your tongue and stuff?'," Roisin said.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health say early recognition of stroke is important to minimise the risk of severe long-term health problems.

In the UK there are about 400 childhood strokes per year, according to the Stroke Association.

Symptoms of a stroke in children can vary from a sudden severe headache, vertigo or dizziness that is new, to very sudden nausea, visual effects and others.

Roisin says she forgets so much about the early days after having the stroke

Roisin was taken to Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital. That's where she was told she had had a stroke.

"I didn't really know what was happening myself; I kind of forget the things that happened at the very start," she said.

"It was dreadful. I was taken to ICU. There were loads of doctors crowding around me".

Everything had changed.

"I couldn't move up in my bed. I lost my singing voice. Singing is everything to me," Roisin said.

She added: "Luckily I got it back. I was completely paralysed on my left-hand side - bedbound.

"I was going to get open heart surgery. They found a benign tumour in my heart. Luckily that disappeared; it was a miracle. Then the therapy started.

"It is so intense. You are spending every hour of every day doing it."

Now the Derry student is again hoping to pursue a career in musical theatre

Roisin's family was her rock, helping her cope, often through humour.

She missed a lot of time at school and as her friends moved on, she had to repeat the year.

"That was hard on top of all my disabilities," Roisin said.

Now, four years on, Roisin has truly found her voice again. She is studying performing arts at Derry's North West Regional College and is choreographing a dance to reflect her journey.

Later this month she will perform it at the Derry campus, where she has already starred in reimaginings of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth.

• Teen stroke survivor warns it can affect anyone

• The child stroke survivor determined to recover

• 'I thought strokes only happened to the elderly'

She hopes again to pursue a professional career in musical theatre.

"Before my stroke it was always my ambition to be in the West End. During my recovery I thought it was the end of that path.

"I never thought I would be sitting here doing this," Roisin said.