A pair of twins both had strokes within 9 months of each other. ABC News reported that Kathryn Tucker from Arizona had gone to bed when she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head before she lost her vision and went numb. Her brother was at her apartment in Tempe and rushed her to the hospital. At first doctors said it was a migraine but she was in reality, having a stroke at the age of 26.
Kathryn said to ABC News, "I was absolutely terrified. I slept for three days straight. Then, when I woke up, my vision was horrible. Everything was distorted and one-dimensional. I could barely get around."
She then went back to an urgent care facility where tests showed that she did have a stroke. Nine months later her twin sister, Kimberly Tucker also suffered a stroke in the same way except it was on her left side, while Kathryn's was on her right.
"On the day of my stroke I did a 5K run," Kimberly said to ABC News.
Kimberley went home and took a nap and when she woke up she had a sharp pain on the left side of the back of her head.
"My vision closed in almost completely," she said to ABC News. "I wasn't making a lot of sense and was not able to form complete thoughts. But I knew I was having a stroke."
Doctors discovered that Kathryn had a Patent foramen ovale, which is a small hole in the heart which could have contributed to her stroke.
There is no family history of stroke in the family and the sisters are fraternal twins. Both of the twins suffered strokes on opposite sides of the occipital lobe.
"Honestly, it's rare for us to actually evaluate two sisters who've had strokes within months of each other," said Dr. Joni Clark, a vascular neurologist at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix to ABC News. "If they had a family history, it would not be a surprise. It's quite uncommon."
Doctors say that the twins both shared traits that are linked to strokes in young people. They both got migraines, took birth control pills and were smokers.
"Don't think you are impervious to stroke," said Kimberly Tucker to ABC News. "We think we are invincible until we are not. This taught us a huge lesson that we are not guaranteed great health and we need to take care of our bodies."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
