Home » No, Your 30s Aren’t Too Young to Think About Stroke Prevention—Especially as a Woman

No, Your 30s Aren’t Too Young to Think About Stroke Prevention—Especially as a Woman

Strokes can (and do) happen at any age.

Erin Adelekun was 38 when she had a stroke, just nine days after giving birth to her daughter in 2020. It all started with a headache, which had been about a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10 when she was discharged from the hospital two days postpartum, and climbed to a 6 or 7 by the following week. She thought she was just exhausted from having a newborn and reassured herself she’d call her doctor the next day if it persisted. The next morning, she woke up with the worst throbbing head pain she’d ever felt. While she waited for her doctor’s office to open, her husband offered to make breakfast. She tried to say she’d be down to the kitchen from their bedroom in a minute—but could only make indecipherable sounds.

“Itriedtotalk,butitwasnotcomingout.Iheadedimmediatelydownthestairsandmyrightarmbecamelimp,”AdelekuntellsSELF.“IknewIwashavingastrokebecauseIwasfamiliarwiththewarningsigns,”shesays.Butshecouldn’tcommunicatethat.Luckily,herhusbandrecognizedsomethingwasverywrongandrushedhertothehospital;uponarriving,shewaswhiskedawayfortestsandtreatment.Thenextth