Seven-year-old Fights F...

Posted By

Ashima Sharda Mahindra

Date

February 25, 2025

Category

Blogs

Even though she can mumble, Charlie’s movement is extremely limited and she has no function on the left side of her body

A seven-year-old from Hertfordshire suffered a stroke while going down a slide at her local park and is now fighting for her life in the hospital. Charlie Sue Salisbury was with her father, Danny, earlier this month when he instantly noticed a change in his daughter’s face.

According to Danny, Charlie’s face had dropped before she collapsed as she tried to stand up again. "As soon as I saw Charlie coming down the slide, I knew something wasn't right—she didn't have the same glow in her beautiful face. We were blue-lighted to the hospital because we knew it was a race against time,” he told The Sun.

At the hospital, doctors told Danny what he feared the most—Charlie had suffered a stroke caused by a blood clot.

Although she can mumble, at present Charlie’s movement is extremely limited and she has no function on the left side of her body. After hours of surgery, doctors said she would need a metal plate to be fitted to her skull. Medics predict she will take at least three months to recover in a rehabilitation center.

"When they confirmed it was a stroke, we were hoping the damage was minimal,” said Danny. According to the doctors, it took them at least five hours to remove the clot 12 times but they were unsuccessful. However, another surgery was conducted where the surgeons removed a third of Charliee's skull as her brain was "dangerously swollen.".

The clot on Charlie's brain remains and the repeated attempts to remove it have caused severe damage to the right side of her brain.

What is a pediatric stroke?

Experts say pediatric stroke occurs before the age of 1 and includes:

Perinatal strokes, which your child can be born with
Strokes before 28 days of life
Childhood strokes that occur after 28 days of life, before the age of 18

A stroke occurs when blood does not flow to your brain as it should and is a life-threatening event. Even though it happens mostly in adults, children and adolescents can sometimes have one. Common causes include heart disorders and blood clotting disorders. Strokes can also occur due to injuries that result from low oxygen to your child’s brain or conditions they’re born with.

Doctors say pediatric strokes are rare, and there are 1 to 2 childhood stroke cases per 100,000 children (under age 18) each year. Newborns less than four weeks old, infants, children, and adolescents experience the same types of strokes that adults do:

Hemorrhagic stroke
Ischemic stroke
Transient ischemic attack

What are the risk factors for a pediatric stroke?

Your child may be at a higher risk for a stroke if they have:

Arrhythmias
Congenital heart disease
Cerebral hypoxia
Diabetes
High blood pressure
Obesity
Thrombophilia
Traumatic brain injury
Certain genetic syndromes like Down’s syndrome

Signs and symptoms of pediatric stroke

A child who has a stroke may experience some of the same symptoms as adults who have a stroke, which include:

Changes in behaviour or thinking
Changes in hearing or vision
Clumsiness
Difficulty swallowing
Muscle weakness on one side of the body
Trouble speaking or understanding words

However many children, especially infants and young children, may not have typical stroke symptoms. Instead, they may feel seizures, headaches, nausea and vomiting, fatigue, and fever.

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