Three strokes in one day

Dru Arnold, a thirty nine year old concreter from Sunshine Coast, suffered three strokes across twenty four hours. He initially tried to sleep off slurred speech and a migraine, unaware he was having a stroke.

A stroke two years earlier

After his wife called an ambulance, doctors discovered Arnold had also suffered a stroke two years before his February emergency. Seven months later, he has mostly recovered, though his speech remains affected.

He didn't know the symptoms

Arnold said he was unaware of basic stroke symptoms until after his emergency. His treating stroke nurse, Danika Lloyd, said he was very lucky considering how long it took him to seek medical attention.

“Being his age, most people probably don't think about that kind of stuff”

Strokes kill thousands yearly

Queensland Health ranks strokes as one of the leading causes of death in Australians. In two thousand twenty four, strokes claimed nine thousand one hundred forty seven lives and affected someone every eleven minutes on average.

Time is critical for treatment

Bailey McNamara, stroke clinical nurse consultant at Sunshine Coast University Hospital, said time was the most critical factor when surviving a stroke. Many people delay seeking help, missing the window for clot busting medication.

“By the time they get to hospital, sadly, they're out of that timeframe for us to be able to provide that hyper-acute therapy such as the clot-busting medication.”

Eighty percent are preventable

McNamara said eighty percent of strokes could be prevented through eating well, exercising, monitoring cholesterol and blood pressure, regular GP check ups, and managing heart conditions or diabetes. Binge drinking, smoking, vaping and illicit drugs are major risk factors.

Strokes rising in younger people

Kelvin Hill from Stroke Foundation Australia said strokes were increasing in people under sixty five. Over the past ten to fifteen years, obesity and rising diabetes mean some people are getting strokes earlier than previously seen.

“Every minute a stroke occurs, there are one point nine million brain cells that die when they don't get the nutrients and oxygen in the blood supply.”

Know the symptoms, save a life

Arnold now wants to help others understand stroke symptoms: facial droop, arm weakness, slurred speech, headaches and brain fog. He says recognising these signs in someone else could save their life, and earlier hospital arrival might have prevented his worst effects.

“If we knew, I could have been better than I was, we could have got to the hospital a day earlier, and it might not have been so bad.”