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<\/p>\nA woman who suffered two strokes has said she believed high blood pressure was simply something she \u201clived with\u201d and \u201cnever imagined it would nearly kill\u201d her.<\/p>\n
Natasha Carayol, 40, from north London, had a stroke in May 2022 after feeling like a \u201cnuclear bomb went off\u201d in her head, and doctors confirmed her high blood pressure caused the aneurysm which led to a stroke.<\/p>\n
She underwent emergency brain surgery and was left with a severely swollen face as well as slow speech and extreme weakness, meaning she had to relearn how to walk.<\/p>\n
The stroke put her life into perspective, and she decided to make her work as a financial adviser freelance, and become a DJ after music helped her through her recovery.<\/p>\n
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In 2024, she discovered she was pregnant and felt \u201cterrified\u201d of having another stroke.<\/p>\n
Five weeks after giving birth, in June 2025, her \u201cworst nightmare\u201d became a reality \u2013 she suffered a second stroke, again caused by high blood pressure.<\/p>\n
Natasha, a mother of two to Jahzire, 17, and Malaya, seven months, told PA Real Life: \u201cI thought high blood pressure was just something I lived with \u2013 I never imagined it would nearly kill me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI now live with fear, I\u2019m constantly worried it\u2019s going to happen again.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny headache, any strange feeling \u2013 my heart races.<\/p>\n
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\u201cA stroke doesn\u2019t just change your body, it changes your mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Until 2022, Natasha was a regional team manager and financial adviser for an insurance broker, juggling life as a single mother alongside her side project as a radio DJ.<\/p>\n
She was unaware of any serious health concerns, apart from discovering she had high blood pressure in 2010.<\/p>\n
In May 2022, she began experiencing \u201creally bad headaches\u201d and feeling \u201cvery exhausted\u201d for around a week.<\/p>\n
She tried to ignore the pain and, one day, instead of working from home as usual, decided to go into the office.<\/p>\n
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After joining her morning Zoom meeting, she took a sip of her coffee when it suddenly felt \u201clike a nuclear bomb went off\u201d in her head.<\/p>\n
She was unable to move and collapsed onto the floor.<\/p>\n
There was no-one on her side of the office, so as she fell she grabbed the desk to make noise and alert colleagues on her floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to scream, but nothing came out. I was trapped in my body,\u201d Natasha added.<\/p>\n
Colleagues rushed over and called an ambulance and she was blue-lighted to Ealing Hospital, where she slowly began to regain movement and speech.<\/p>\n
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Tests revealed she had extremely high blood pressure, and she said doctors initially believed she \u201cjust needed to rest\u201d.<\/p>\n
She said she was asked to go home as they needed the bed, but Natasha remembered she paid for private medical insurance and asked for further tests.<\/p>\n
A brain scan revealed a brain bleed caused by an aneurysm, which had triggered a stroke.<\/p>\n
She also said doctors confirmed the aneurysm was caused by her high blood pressure.<\/p>\n
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\u201cBased on the diagnosis, I think if I went home that night, I would not have woken up the next day \u2013 my brain was flooding with blood,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She was transferred to Charing Cross Hospital later that same day.<\/p>\n
The following morning, she underwent emergency brain surgery to stop the bleeding and prevent a future aneurysm.<\/p>\n
Natasha explained: \u201cAfter surgery my face was all swollen up, I looked like the Elephant Man, I was in bed a lot so had to learn how to walk again because I was so weak.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had speech therapy because my speech was slow and I had to think about what I was going to say before I said it.\u201d<\/p>\n
After leaving hospital, Natasha stayed with her grandmother, who looked after her.<\/p>\n
Natasha found recovery difficult, as she was no longer as independent as she once had been.<\/p>\n
She had to \u201crebuild (her) confidence\u201d and turned to music, as she said DJing made her feel like herself again.<\/p>\n
She began DJing for her neighbours in the garden for a few hours at a time and by October, when she had almost recovered, she returned to her job, but still felt \u201ctoo weak\u201d.<\/p>\n
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Taking this as a sign, she decided to focus on DJing instead \u2013 going on holiday to Morocco to DJ and set herself the goal of performing around the world.<\/p>\n
Through contacts she made while on her trip, she went on to perform in Greece, Spain and Turkey.<\/p>\n
She felt she had found her \u201cpurpose\u201d and that her life was getting \u201cbetter and back to normal\u201d.<\/p>\n
In October 2024, Natasha was surprised to discover she was pregnant.<\/p>\n
Throughout pregnancy, she was \u201cterrified of having another stroke,\u201d as pregnancy can increase the risk of having a stroke.<\/p>\n
But she saw a specialist who managed to bring her blood pressure down, which reassured her.<\/p>\n
After giving birth in June 2025, she lost a significant amount of blood and was admitted to intensive care.<\/p>\n
Five weeks later, while at home, she suddenly felt the urge to pass her baby to her partner and developed a headache.<\/p>\n
Moments later, she collapsed and her mother called an ambulance \u2013 she had suffered another brain bleed and stroke.<\/p>\n
Once again, doctors confirmed the cause as high blood pressure.<\/p>\n
She spent three weeks in hospital recovering, while breastfeeding her newborn daughter from her hospital bed.<\/p>\n
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She said: \u201cI looked at her and knew I had to get better. I needed to come home. I needed to be her mum.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her recovery was \u201charder this time\u201d as she could not move her left side at first, and her speech was slurred and delayed.<\/p>\n
With the help of a speech and language therapist, her speech has since improved, while an occupational therapist has helped her regain movement.<\/p>\n
However, she continues to feel the mental impact of having had a stroke \u2013 she is \u201cparanoid\u201d and \u201cconstantly worried\u201d about having another one.<\/p>\n
Now, Natasha is working with the Stroke Association to raise awareness this Stroke Prevention Day, January 29, determined to help others understand their risk.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf my story makes one person check their blood pressure, it\u2019s worth it,\u201d Natasha explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cHigh blood pressure is often silent, but the consequences can be catastrophic.<\/p>\n
\u201cStroke isn\u2019t something that only happens to older people. I was in my thirties. I was busy, working, being a mum, living my life.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlood pressure doesn\u2019t care how strong or successful you are.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Stroke Association is the leading charity in the UK providing life-long support for all stroke survivors and their families.<\/p>\n
They provide tailored support to tens of thousands of stroke survivors each year, fund vital scientific research, and campaign to secure the best care for everyone affected by stroke.<\/p>\n