A County Durham mum was left in a 'critical' condition after suffering a serious stroke months after giving birth.

Donna King, 37, from Peterlee, suffered her stroke months after giving birth to daughter Millie 11 years ago.

She had not been experiencing the symptoms typically associated with a stroke but had noticed her hearing had lessened and she had started getting vertigo.

Mrs King, 26 at the time, was home alone with four-month-old Millie when her partner raced home and called an ambulance after finding her slumped on the bathroom floor being sick.

Read more: Man who died in Newcastle bus stop crash named as Joe Scott

The Northern Echo:

Her condition meant she would miss out on important milestones as an early mother, while she also had to give up the videography business she started a few years before.

Mrs King said: “I managed to make sure that Millie was on the bed and couldn’t roll off thankfully but I couldn’t get my vision right.

"When the paramedics arrived they thought I had a bad ear infection and told me to go to bed but I was begging them to take me to hospital.”

After scans at the hospital initially didn’t reveal anything, specialists at a different hospital soon discovered that Mrs King had multiple clots on her brain stem.

Read more: Polam Lane bridge in Darlington reopens after development

She lost her speech and the use of her body for the next few hours and spent over three months in hospital.

It was discovered later that her stroke may have been caused by the combined pill she had been taking.  

“I was critical for the first few weeks and I couldn’t even see Millie until after a couple of weeks in hospital when I had stabilised more. I had to use a spelling chart to communicate and be taken around in a wheelchair," Mrs King added.

“I always wanted a child and when Millie came along it was a dream come true. I was so hands-on with her at first but overnight I just became a spectator as a parent. The stroke robbed me of being a Mum – I couldn’t change her nappy at first, take her swimming or push her on the swings.

“I missed out on so many milestones of motherhood but Nicky was amazing and Millie learnt to do lots of things on her own like doing her hair and tying her shoelaces. I’m so proud of her though, we learnt to do so many things together with me in recovery and her growing up.”

Despite regaining her speech and learning to walk again, she can still only use one arm and hand and uses shoe splints to aid her walking.

She has been able to drive again using an adapted car, although has been forced to give up the business she had grown but wants to return to other work that’s more office-based.

She now also films videos on using one arm to do everyday tasks and works with the NHS and the Stroke Association with other stroke survivors to help shape stroke care in the North East and Cumbria.

She said: “I have missed out on so much, but I’ve worked very hard to improve things too – I’ve just had to get on with it.

"I even now make videos on how to change a nappy with one hand! Things have changed dramatically yes, but 13 is now my lucky number as that was the day that February that I survived my stroke”

Read next:

Get more news, politics and entertainment coverage from The Northern Echo with a Premium Plus subscription for just £5 and get 5 months. Click here.

There are over 100,000 strokes each year and 1.3 million stroke survivors living in the UK today, with these numbers only set to grow.

With an increasing number of people surviving stroke and an ageing population, by 2035, the number of stroke survivors living in the UK is expected to rise to over 2 million.

The estimated overall cost of stroke in the UK is set to rise from £26 billion in 2015 to £75 billion in 2035, an increase of 194% over 20 years, presenting increasing societal challenges in future.

If you know a stroke survivor of any age, visit here.