Hi, my name is Lisa, I am a 44 year old mom of 2, from Cape Town, South Africa. On 13 January 2026, on what I now recall being a particularly hot day in Cape Town, at about 4pm my mother and 18 year old daughter found me unresponsive on the kitchen floor, the toast I had been making was half buttered and still warm - this is how they know whatever had happened was recent, they know I didn’t fall to the ground because they would have heard that and I also had no injuries which would indicate a fall. I was flat in my back, unresponsive. I now recall buttering my toast and feeling a sudden strange sensation at the back and top of my head, it felt like liquid being poured inside my head, I recall kneeling down to the ground, and then nothing. I don’t know if it was painful, just that it was strange, could this have been the thunderclap headache? I don’t know. I already had a headache, I have always suffered from chronic headaches and that day was no different.
In retrospect, I can now say some of the headaches had been bothering me, they were different, my left eye would get painful, I’d wake up with headaches which was I usual, the headaches were more stubborn, I had an occasional ache in my left ear and jaw that was strange and felt odd, and my one eye seemed smaller. Were any of these warning signs? I’ll never know.
My daughter called an ambulance, I sort of regained consciousness, my mother says it’s like I was awake but wasn’t there, the paramedics indicated they thought something neurological in nature had happened because everything else seemed alright, but I was vomiting, slurring, not making any sense and was not responding to questions. I dont know what else they saw that made them think Neuro.
I was transported to the nearest hospital, 5 minutes away. I’m angry that I was not immediately taken to the bigger hospital but that’s a story for another time. Here is realised I had the worst headache, but I’ve experienced migraines before and this felt possibly the same. I was poked and prodded, lights shone in my eyes, I was drifting in and out of consciousness, I recall opening my eyes and seeing my brother but not being able to speak.
At some point they told me they thought I may have had a seizure but they weren’t sure and would keep me for observation. At some point a doctor used a fetal sonogram machine to scan my eyes, apparently to check if my optical nerve was swollen. I have no idea why, if they could actually see anything and what on earth they thought they were doing at this point. I was then admitted to one of their wards where they continued pumping my full of morphine for the headache I was still complaining about. They also said my BP was high.
Here is stayed, for a full four days until eventually somebody decided on the Friday after my admission on the Tuesday, because I was still complaining of a terrible headaches, to send me for a CT scan. This day, as with the others, are a blur, they all blend in with each other and I know only what day it was because of messages exchanged with my family.
My family now tells me that visits we’re short because I drifted in and out of consciousness. I have no memory of this. On the Saturday afternoon I was told my family should come and collect my belongings because I was being transferred to Groote Schuur, the only state hospital with the infrastructure and capacity to deal with what I was there and then informed was a severe brain bleed visible on the 'CT results.
Our public health situation is a waiting game - that’s all I will say. At Groote Schuur I was left, once again started drifting in and out of consciousness, woke to see my brother standing there, and I know from my records I was eventually admitted at 4.20am on the Sunday morning. From there everything is a blur, I have fragmented memories of High Care, doctors telling me I had a basilar aneurysm rupture, blood in places there shouldn’t be blood. I recall a form being presented and asked to sign. A needle in my groin, warm sensation, then nothing.
Over the next few days I don’t remember much at all - about a week is missing besides fragmented memories of nurses, family visits and a terrible headache. At some point I was told that the aneurysm was either difficult to reach or difficult to treat and that a professor had to complete the coiling procedure, and that I was lucky. I remember a lot of people telling me I was very lucky.
I was eventually transferred to a general ward, and I remember a bit more from this time, visits with my children, still the constant headache, constantly feeling dizzy. I was eventually discharged about 2 weeks post procedure, 3 weeks post rupture.
I’ve been home recovering now for about 2 weeks I think. I’m suffering from extreme fatigue. Headaches come and go, much milder than before. I feel slow, unsteady on my feet, sometimes I walk like I’m drunk.
Of concern is I have episodes where my right side goes completely lame, face included, my speech becomes slurred and sometimes my right limbs jerk, they’re happening less frequently now, and don’t last as long as they did initially. I am always fully conscious, even laughing at myself when it happens, and the lameness and slurred speech fully resolve every time. Had anybody else experienced this and what causes it?
I’m trying to take one day at a time, but even though I now look normal I dont feel normal at all. I don’t know if I will ever fully recover, or what that recovery looks like.
Any similar experiences? I’m so sorry for the long post - I didn’t know what to say or what not to.
- but don’t you worry about the length as you need to process what you have been through with those of us who can relate to your experience!
