Jennie's story

Fifteen years ago, Hawera-based Jennie Williamson was a bit miffed about having a sinus infection, as the pain had caused her to take a sick day for the very first time in her life.

A life-long bodybuilder who had won regional and national competitions, the 48-year-old gym instructor wondered if her migraine had anything to do with an inexplicable incident she had experienced a few days ago.

"A couple of days beforehand, a dear friend asked if she should make me a cuppa. When I replied to her, she gave me the oddest glare!"

Although Jennie hadn't noticed, her reply had rolled off her tongue as gibberish. They both laughed the incident off at the time, writing it off as a momentary lapse.

Unbeknownst to them, Jennie's speech had been momentarily affected by a mini-stroke or Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA). The mini-stroke was a warning that Jennie's migraine two days later was much more sinister in nature.

When the evening news began on TV, Jennie remembers the pain ramping up so badly that she began screaming for her husband.

"I felt a wicked ache, as if someone had placed a red-hot poker right on my temple!"

As soon as her partner, John, walked in, he noticed how his wife was speaking to him "in tongues" and her face was drooping to the left. Aware of the F.A.S.T. (Face, Arms, Speech, Take Action) message to identify strokes, John dialled 111 without hesitation.

Doctors at Hawera's general hospital were perplexed at Jennie's affliction, as she was extremely fit, never drank or smoked, and almost always ate healthily.

After an excruciating six-hour wait at Hawera, Jennie was finally transported to New Plymouth, where tests made it obvious that she had experienced a massive stroke.

Jennie had unfortunately joined a global statistic - more than one in 12 people experience a stroke within a week after a mini-stroke episode.

"My GP at the time likened what had happened inside my brain to a detonation and credited my physical health as the reason I was even alive!"

A previously undetected condition called atherosclerosis had caused Jennie's body to overproduce plaque in her bloodstream, narrowing her blood vessels and creating the clot that travelled to her brain and caused her stroke.

On week three of her 10-week stay at the hospital, Jennie distinctly remembers her mental state before Karen, Stroke Aotearoa's Community Stroke Navigator (CSN) in Taranaki, walked in for a visit.

"I was extremely distraught and practically seething with rage at the world that this had happened to me."

"I was incapacitated in a way I could never have imagined - my entire left side was paralysed, and I could neither move my arm nor leg on that side. I couldn't stop crying in my hospital bed."

The CSA suggested to Jennie that she has sessions with a grief counsellor, to wrap her head around the losses she had faced.

Once those losses had been acknowledged and accepted, Jennie could then focus on her rehabilitation without distraction.

"By the time I had concluded my sessions with the counsellor that Karen referred to me, my perspective had undergone an amazing transformation."

After relocating to the Bay of Plenty in 2010, she joined a gym to get back to doing the thing she loved. At this gym, she had the luck of meeting a personal trainer, Kevin Bonds, who was a trained stroke rehabilitation coach from the United States.

The coach taught Jennie about the mind-muscle connection and the importance of exercise in promoting neuroplasticity in the brain, boosting its ability to mend itself after the trauma of a stroke.

Devoting herself to training over the next decade, Jennie won Gold in the over-60s bodybuilding category at the ICN bodybuilding competition in November 2021 (as pictured).

Competing in her golden years, she says, is not to boost her ego.

"I wanted to inspire at least one other person who has experienced stroke, to do what they can to stay fit - whether it is a small walk around the block or even a seated exercise. I want to tell them that exercise was key in improving my mental health and unlocking my rehab potential."

Despite the massive leaps she has made, Jennie freely admits that she continues to be affected by her stroke. Sensation over the toes on her left foot and the dexterity over her left hand remain poor. Her biggest challenge, however, is not physical.

"As a bodybuilder, you train your body to the "point of failure", so I'm pretty used to physical fatigue. Nothing, however, could have prepared me for the mental exhaustion my brain went through after the stroke. Fighting mental fatigue remains the hardest part of my rehab."

Today, at the age of 63, Jennie is thankful that the stroke helped her realise how lucky she is to be loved by her husband, children, and grandchildren.

"Now, I focus on being present and living the moment, in every sense of the word. I've realised that my life and the people I have around me are a special gift that I intend on savouring."

Jennie Williamson is a very special client of Stroke Aotearoa and has pledged her support towards our services in a typically decisive manner.

“Interacting with the Community Stroke Navigator, Karen, convinced me of the quality of Stroke Aotearoa's services. This has compelled me to add the Foundation as one of the beneficiaries of my last will."