A woman has shared the terrifying moment she suffered a stroke while at the gym.
When Elin Andersson stepped into her usual exercise class, she was fit and healthy, enjoying CrossFit four to five times a week.
She had no idea of the nightmare that would follow when she was suddenly hit by an unexplainable wave of dizziness.
The 44-year-old mum-of-two remembers her body “shutting down” and turning into “spaghetti”, as she suffered a brain haemorrhage.
“It began as a completely normal Saturday,” Elin, from Vellinge, Sweden, who has 30,000 followers online (@elinstrokefighter) told Jam Press.
“The alarm clock rang and I got up feeling alert and happy.
“After I walked the dog and had breakfast with my husband, I took the car to the gym.
“A few minutes before we were to start the CrossFit, one of my friends came up to me, grabbed me by the shoulders and said, ‘Elin, are we going to be a team today?!’
“I remember this so clearly because as she asked the question, I felt my head spin.
“Seconds later, I was suddenly struck by a feeling that my body was shutting down.
“My body felt like spaghetti – as if all the muscles had suddenly died.”
Elin’s friends immediately called for an ambulance, undoubtedly saving her life.
The incident took place in January this year, with the mum in recovery ever since.
Speaking of the moments before the ambulance arrived, she said: “I tried to analyse the situation in my head.
“The only thing I could think of was that my aorta had ruptured and I would die at any moment.
“I remember sitting on the floor screaming in despair.
“I kept saying, ‘I’m going to die. Please help me. I don’t want to die!’.
“The only thing I could focus on was staying awake and surviving a little longer so I could see my children and husband again.”
Paramedics took Elin to the Neurointensive Care Unit in Lund, where she received specialist treatment for the stroke.
Her family, including her husband, Christian, 46, and daughters, Olivia and Moa, aged 19 and 15 respectively, were her support system.
At first, she couldn’t even move her eyes and it would be four weeks before she was stable enough to be sent for rehabilitation.
Almost two months later, Elin – who had thankfully survived the terrifying ordeal, but still suffers the after-effects – was allowed to go home to her family.
She said: “My rehab journey continued with training at a rehab centre in Trelleborg for four hours a week and endless hours of training at home and at my local gym.
“This has changed my life radically.
“It has left me weak on my entire left side.”
In November, doctors were able to successfully remove the vessel malformation that caused Elin’s stroke.
She can now continue with her rehab without the risk of this happening again.
To raise awareness, she has taken to Instagram to share her journey.
Elin: “I am so overwhelmed by all the responses.
“So many people contact me with tips and cheers.
“It gives me the strength to struggle with my training.
“I train with my old training buddies but do my rehab exercises when they do CrossFit.
“However, I have started to be able to do slightly simpler and scaled versions of certain exercises.
“But just being able to train together makes me so happy, to feel the community and to be able to sweat together again.
“I was at my gym where it happened already a couple of weeks after I got home from the hospital at the end of March.
“It was emotional to enter the hall where I collapsed, but at the same time, it felt important to dare to come back there.
“The gym is like my second home and I didn’t want it to become a place I wouldn’t visit again.
“Now I go here again several times a week and it feels fantastic.
“Today I feel good. I feel hope, love, and appreciate life in a different way than before the brain haemorrhage.
“Before, I was a restless soul who was constantly looking for new challenges and kicks.
“In a way, I still do and it’s probably that vein in me that makes me have the strength to fight, train and challenge myself in my rehab.
”But the big difference is that today I also enjoy everyday life.”
