39-year-old teacher dies of cerebral hemorrhage after waking up, tells of the moment when “mindfulness and Siri” saved her life, warns young people not to be careless
A teacher shares a clip that recorded the moment she suffered a stroke, along with an important message to warn young people. On the night of April 18, Christa Figari, a 39-year-old American teacher, went to bed as usual. But at around 4:45 a.m. the next morning, her life changed.
“I remember waking up, doing my routine. *I was making my bed, and all of a sudden I lost my balance and fell to my left side and hit the floor,” she told Healthline. “I literally couldn’t get up. I couldn’t move, lift, or feel my legs, arms, hands. The left side of my body just didn’t work.”
Figari tried to make sense of what was happening. She crawled to her nightstand and grabbed her cell phone with her right hand. She tried calling her cousin and the building manager, but no one answered. The building manager called back and rushed to her apartment, but couldn’t get in because the front door was locked.
“That’s when I used Siri to call 911,” Figari recounted.
When police arrived, they couldn’t get the door open. So the building manager tried to enter the house through a window. “When he got in, he opened the front door and paramedics took me to the hospital,” Figari said.
When she arrived at the medical center, doctors diagnosed her with a type of stroke called a “wake-up stroke,” which occurs when the symptoms occur upon waking. Although it can occur at any time, about 20 percent of strokes occur upon waking.
Diagnosis and treatment of cerebral infarction upon awakening
“If a patient develops symptoms within 4.5 hours of the first symptoms, we can treat them with blood thinners,” says neurologist Nicholas Janocco.
“We did an emergency MRI on her and used the images to show that it was a recent stroke, so we were able to safely administer a blood thinner,” Figari said. After the procedure, Figari stayed in the โปรโมชั่น ufabet hospital for four days for follow-up.
The camera in the room captured the moment the incident occurred.
Figari installed cameras in her apartment to keep an eye on her dog. When she was discharged from the hospital, she discovered that the cameras had recorded the moment she suffered a stroke.
“I’m glad this video exists because it shows what happened… Because I was alone, this video validates my story,” Figari said.
This teacher shared her story because she wanted people to know that a stroke can happen to anyone and has different effects.
“Even if you feel something small, if you feel something is wrong, seek help,” she advises. “We often think that we will never be, and that because we are not old enough. It is unlikely to happen. But no one knows what will happen.”