'Aged 23 with no health issues...if I can suffer a stroke anyone can.'

A survivor warns that the crippling condition can suddenly strike victims young and old - after suffering one on holiday aged only 23. Kate Rowlson, now 25, was enjoying a family summer holiday in Morzine, on 13th August 2023 when she felt unwell, went to bed and woke the next day with 'double vision'.

After local doctors and UK and French drew a blank on her strange eyesight issues, eventually an MRI scan in Manchester revealed the shock news that Kate had suffered an ischemic stroke - when a clot cuts off blood supply to part of the brain, which in some cases can be fatal. The nerves in Kate's eye were damaged leaving Kate with 'third nerve palsy', requiring squint surgery in October 2024 to correct her vision - and leaving her on blood thinners for the rest of her life to prevent future strokes.

Earlier this year Kate travelled down to Westminster to meet MPs - including Labour MP Uma Kumaran whose husband Jacob, 39, suffered a stroke last July - to tell her story and explain how strokes can happen to anyone of any age.

Now Kate, who has returned to her legal technology work in , is campaigning with the Stroke Association and the Daily Express to call for and wider access to aftercare.

Incredible new treatments are now available such as prehospital video triage (PVT), which connects paramedics with stroke specialists to quicker assess a patient's condition as they head to hospital - and experts warn with the "UK population ageing, stroke is a ."

Kate told us: "It was terrifying. Months before this I was a care-free 23-year-old - I was the life of the party. I'd just moved to Manchester alone and was always socialising with my friends, and most importantly having a good time. Life was good.

"The stroke left me with double vision for over a year which caused a lot of anxiety as I struggled to navigate myself. Thankfully I had surgery that brought my vison back.

"I'm also still struggling to deal with it mentally, I have feelings of being depressed and bouts of anxiety most days. I feel like I hold myself back so much more now.

"I went back to work, and my workplace allowed me to change roles into something more suited and independent.

"Thankfully I was put in touch with the Stroke Association, and they have been a huge support to me and my family - at a real time of need.

"I want people to know that I am still me and not letting this stroke define who I am. I want to take this awful experience and turn it into something positive.

"I had no risk factors and I'm not doing anything to damage my body - it scares me that something could possibly happen again, completely out of my control."

Kate admits that she never realised someone as young, fit and healthy as she was, could have a stroke. But by sharing her story she hopes more people are aware that a stroke can happen to anyone, at any age.

Explaining how her stroke came out of the blue, she said: "In the summer of 2023, I was on holiday with my family when one evening I started to feel a little disorientated and my vision was slightly blurred.

"After I'd had my drink, I felt really weird and I remember thinking, why do I feel like I'm really drunk? I've literally had like one drink. I just felt so strange.

"I decided to go to bed, but the following morning I woke up still experiencing uncomfortable double vision.

"Taking the advice from family, I decided to go to a local doctor. When explaining what had been happening, they referred me to the local hospital.

"At the hospital I had a CT scan which they said looked all OK, and they were unsure as to why my vision was still so blurred. I soon left France for home, and knowing something wasn't right, I decided to go to my local hospital.

"The MRI at home in September confirmed I'd had a stroke. I went to the appointment in my work clothes, it was 8am and they basically were like, 'you need to stay here'.

"Later on that evening, they pulled me into a room and said 'right, so you've had an ischemic stroke' and consequently I was suffering from third nerve palsy.

"I was so shocked and scared. I spent a week in hospital recovering, being put on medication, and coming to terms with what was happening."

Doctors ran a series of tests to see if she had a hole in her heart, to explain why she suffered the stroke - but worryingly for Kate, they have never found a cause.

She said: "I had lots of different tests to check my heart, so lots of ECGs and stuff to check what was going on.

"They thought I could potentially have like a hole in my heart, because that's the most likely reason, especially because of my circumstances with my age and everything and having no risk factors.

"I came off statins when they basically concluded that there was nothing wrong with my heart. So now I'm just on blood thinners and I'll be on blood thinners for the rest of my life."

Kate had to wait over a year - for her facial muscles to settle - before having squint surgery on her right eye. Beforehand she had been wearing a patch to stop the double vision.

Explaining how not knowing what caused the stroke has affected her mentally, Kate said: "For a long time, I really struggled because I couldn't quite understand why it happened to me and no one could tell me why.

"I've had countless tests to check everything, which I'm grateful for because I've had a full health MOT. So I know that health-wise, I'm generally quite okay.

"But it's difficult because obviously it gets to a point where it's like, okay, well, we've done everything that we can think of, we can't really think of much else, but we can't give you a cause.

"So I'm in the category of, sorry, but we can't give you a reason. It's scary because I still don't know what I was, it almost feels like I was doing something wrong before, but I don't know what that was."

But that uncertainty is something the Stroke Association has been able to help Kate with, with support and peer group counselling from fellow survivors.

The charity reached out to Kate after her initial diagnosis and put her in touch with another survivor in Manchester of a similar age.

Kate added: "I was 23 and it was tough because I wanted to meet someone at the same point in life, living in this and I met another young stroke survivor called Rachel and we just chat and are good friends.

"In terms of her recovery and her journey of her stroke, she's a couple of months ahead of me. So when we chat about things, I'll say, oh, I'm going through a bit of a period where I feel like this. Did you feel like that? And she's like, yeah, I felt like that.

"It's nice knowing that I'm not just going through all these things alone."

Last month the Stroke Association launched their new report 'Unlocking potential: a bold vision for stroke care in England' highlighting the ongoing challenges in stroke care across England which reveals stark inequalities in access to lifechanging treatments.

It sets out key actions across the stroke pathway, which could feed into the Government's upcoming 10 Year Health Plan, to ensure all stroke patients get effective prevention, treatment and care, wherever they live.

It also reveals how the roll-out of technology like prehospital video triage (PVT) could transform stroke care and boost survival rates of the UK's fourth leading cause of death.

It would also bring the Government closer to its goal of reducing stroke and cardiovascular deaths by 25 per cent by 2035.

Prehospital video triage (PVT) connects ambulance teams on the road with hospital-based stroke specialists via a video call to assess a patient's condition and collectively diagnose stroke.

This information helps teams decide which hospital a patient should be taken to should they need specialist stroke care.

Tests to confirm stroke, including CT or MRI scans, can then be prepared for arrival as well as timely treatment and care in a stroke unit.

Following the initial pilots in East Kent and North Central London in 2020, PVT has been trialled in 16 locations across England including London, Sussex, Manchester, and East Midlands.

Results found that it successfully got patients to the right place first time - whether that be a stroke unit, A&E or at home for those hadn't had a stroke and didn't need to go to hospital.

With fewer suspected stroke patients being taken to stroke units, capacity was freed up to treat those who needed it.

Juliet Bouverie OBE, CEO of the Stroke Association, said: "The 10 Year Health Plan is an extraordinary opportunity to transform healthcare and the many vital aspects which impact on the lives of stroke patients.

"Stroke rates keep rising, particularly amongst younger people, yet NHS pressures and deep inequalities in care across the country are failing patients.

"The Stroke Association supports thousands of patients and their loved ones every year, so we know first-hand the challenges that stroke survivors face due to the unfair and avoidable inequalities that continue to blight stroke care.

"Innovations such as PVT must be extended to ensure that every stroke survivor benefits from the incredible medical and digital advances we now have.

"We're calling on the Government to show the conviction and leadership needed to reset cardiovascular care and put it on a trajectory toward equity, innovation, and excellence across the country."

Uma Kumaran, MP for Stratford and Bow, is supporting the Stroke Association following her husband Jacob's stroke last July.

She said: "It was a huge and heartbreaking shock when Jacob - a healthy 39-year-old - had a stroke. It was one of the most difficult periods of our lives as we were thrown into a world of uncertainty.

"We're grateful and thankful that he had the benefit of fantastic treatment which enabled his recovery.

"But not everyone who has a stroke is that fortunate. 240 people have a stroke every day and many will die or be left with lifelong disabilities which make it hard to walk, talk or even breathe.

"The Stroke Association's report sets out clear ways to ensure more people affected by stroke live mentally and physically well and I look forward to supporting and championing their work."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson added: "We are committed to improving stroke prevention, treatment, and recovery through our 10-Year Health Plan, which will emphasise prevention and make better use of innovative technology like prehospital video triage (PVT) as we shift the NHS from analogue to digital."