Essex teen wins national courage award

Elizabeth Kiss, 17, from Ingatestone, Brentwood has been given a courage award for her determination to recover from a stroke which left her with both mental and physical disabilities.

The Stroke Association’s ‘Life After Stroke Children and Young People’s Courage Award’ was presented to Elizabeth at a ceremony at the Landmark hotel in London on 21 November 2018.

Elizabeth was 13 when she collapsed at her family home complaining of a severe headache. After being rushed to hospital, scans revealed that she had a clot in her brain which had caused a stroke. Elizabeth said:

“The stroke came as a total shock to everyone, I was a normal healthy kid. We never thought that I could have had a stroke so young. Even when I arrived at hospital I wasn’t originally treated for stroke because they thought I was having a migraine.”

Doctors were initially reluctant to operate because of her young age, but Elizabeth’s condition started to deteriorate so they performed emergency surgery to try and remove the clot.The procedure was unsuccessful, but Elizabeth started to improve and she was brought out of intensive care. Doctors told the family that it was unlikely the clot could cause another stroke and she was put on medication. As Elizabeth recovered the effects of the stroke became clear, it had left her paralysed, unable to sit up or roll over in bed. Elizabeth’s mother, Danielle said:

“It was so tough for Elizabeth, she couldn’t lift her head and she had to be hoisted in and out of bed, but she just kept pushing herself all the time. After a few weeks of intensive therapy she was able to stand, that was a real breakthrough, then she began to take small steps. She was so excited that she didn’t tell anyone so she could show her mini-miracle to them when they visited.”

Elizabeth continued to make a good enough recovery that she was able to return to school, but she continued to face challenges daily. Students and teachers were sympathetic to her physical difficulties but few understood the impact the stroke had on her mentally and she struggled. Elizabeth said:

“There was a point when I found it really hard and I did lose friends. With a lot of people my age there is a view that it is not cool to be different, and I am different. For a long time after my stroke I suffered with severe anxiety; social situations were overwhelming and I constantly worried that I would say the wrong thing. I didn’t feel confident about going out, so I stopped. That meant I didn’t get invited out and my social scene became really small. It was a low point, I was depressed and I blamed myself.”

However, things improved for Elizabeth about two years after her stroke when she was referred for assessment and rehabilitation at the Cambridge Centre for Paediatric Neuropsychological Rehabilitation. Her mother Danielle added:

“There was a really dark time for Elizabeth, she’d say things that no parent wants to hear like she just didn’t want to be here. It was really tough, heart breaking in fact. But, going to the Cambridge Centre made a huge difference. They explained stroke to us in a way that made sense and that we could work with as a family. Elizabeth went from strength to strength. When she had her final assessment her scores were phenomenal, she’d just blossomed.”

Now, Elizabeth is going to college and learning to drive. She has also developed a passion for theatrical and special effect make-up:

“I was looking at YouTube videos of people doing theatrical make up. It looked fun and I thought I could try that. I particularly like the gorey stuff! I started with very basic stuff like bruising and scratches, then I tried more challenging techniques and started making cuts. I love programmes like Casualty, the story lines are good but I particularly like seeing how they make the injuries look!”

Elizabeth’s Life After Stroke Award was presented to her by Casualty actors Chelsea Halfpenny and Cath Shipton. On finding out that she had won a Life After Stroke Award award Elizabeth said:

“When I first found out about the award, I couldn’t take it in, I was in shock. After a while it sunk in, I realised what it meant and I got really excited. I am really looking forward to it, but I’m a bit nervous. Now I’ve come this far, I feel I can try anything, I have no idea what the next challenge is for me… maybe horse-riding?”

Elizabeth is also supporting the Stroke Association’s Christmas appeal, ‘I am more than my stroke’. The appeal raises money so the charity can help more stroke survivors live with the impact of their stroke because it may have changed their lives but it doesn’t need to define who they are as person. Visit stroke.org.uk/iammore to make a donation.

Watch a video about why Elizabeth was given the Children and Young People’s Courage Award at www.stroke.org.uk/lasa