Jessica Penberthy's story
Jessica Penberthy was only 28 years old when she experienced the first of three serious strokes, in January 2017.
"When I had my stroke, my arm collapsed and just became dead weight; I couldn’t move it or anything."
"As I was so young at the time, it took a few days before someone in the hospital decided to scan my brain to find a blood clot."
Frustrated by her inability to find out why she had a stroke so young, Jessica then suffered a much more severe stroke two years later, in March 2019.
"I was watching TV with my partner, stood up and then the whole room started spinning - just a horrible sense of vertigo. It's an even more awful feeling when it dawns on you that you're having another stroke."
Jessica had experienced a cerebellum stroke, which caused that part of the brain to swell up and push up against her brainstem. As this can be potentially deadly, she was wheeled in for emergency surgery.
Heading back to work twelve weeks after her second stroke, Jessica was then struck by a dull pain in the back of her skull and a droning sound in her inner ear. She went in for an MRI scan at her local hospital and stayed overnight for observation.
Jessica highlights she could recognise the F.A.S.T. signs of stroke that she experienced.
"The next morning, they gave me a gown but as soon as I tried to put it on, I had a terrible fright when I realised I couldn't lift my left arm. When the nurse came over, she said that my face had drooped and we both knew I was having yet another stroke."
Jessica has had to relearn to write, walk, work on her balance and rebuild muscle strength.
"Over time, I realised that living a healthy and active lifestyle has helped me recover a lot quicker."
Keen to challenge herself, Jessica took part in the Auckland Marathon in 2020, along with a group of people who had experienced a stroke, to support the Stroke Foundation and raise awareness about stroke.
Jessica is committed to supporting our services and has signed up to representing the Foundation at the Auckland Marathon once again this year!
Jessica says her reason for raising stroke awareness is:
“What many people don’t realise is that young people can experience stroke too."
You too can join our Stroke NZ team at the Auckland Marathon 2025 and be part of our mission to prevent strokes, improve outcomes and save lives.
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If you'd like to share your experience with stroke, you can submit it here.