A Stroke Without the Warning Signs: How Maria’s Quick Action Made All the Difference

Watch Maria share her story

When out visiting family, Maria Martinez was overcome with a strange and terrible pain in the right side of her neck that she had never experienced before, stunning her entire body. The pain had a domino effect, cascading upward through her neck and to the back of her head, before the entire process repeated on her left side.

Maria clearly knew that something wasn’t right, so she self-checked through the BE FAST stroke symptom indicators, a practice she was familiar with due to some time spent living in Ireland, where the symptom outlines are commonplace in public parks.

Despite her evaluation, she wasn’t presenting with any of the typical symptoms that she knew to look for.

“At 220 over 180, my blood pressure was a different story,” Maria said.

Following her being shocked by that first jolt of pain, Maria contacted her husband, Alessandro Ferraris, in a way that immediately made him uneasy.

“I still have the text with me… it said ‘Please call me.’” Alessandro said that this type of brusque communication wasn’t common between them, and he could tell something was wrong.

Alessandro brought Maria into their normal primary care office with Dr. Mayra Frias. Although it was short notice, her office got Maria in to see Physician Assistant Sarah Kaufman, who was able to do some testing with Maria and expedite the process due to the circumstance.

The results came back quickly, before Maria and Alessandro could even stop at the grocery store for a couple items and get home.

“Both of our phones lit up… it was Sarah calling,” Alessandro said. Maria’s CT scan was showing a brain bleed—it was a stroke.

Alessandro immediately dropped what he was doing and got Maria over to TriHealth’s Good Samaritan Hospital, per Sarah’s instruction.

“When I said her name in the ER, it was like the world and time stopped,” Alessandro remembered about arriving at Good Sam. “They took her in, and it was just a symphony of here, there and everywhere… there was never a moment where I doubted where she was, where she needed to be and the care she was being given.”

The quick response from everyone involved strongly worked in Maria’s favor, as she has no apparent long-term physical or neurological damage. And ultimately, she’s grateful that she trusted herself to know when something was wrong.

“If something’s off or you have a sensation that’s shocking, vibrating, throbbing hot… get it checked out immediately,” Maria said with a smile. To her care team, she wanted only to say: “Thank you would not be enough."

Learn more about stroke care with TriHealth Neuroscience Institute today.