Some  of  us,  our  birthdays  go  completely  as planned  and  become  cherished memories  filled  with  laughter, cake,  and  the  warmth  of  loved  ones. But  for  Emily  O'Hara, her  15th  birthday  was the  beginning  of  something  no  one  could  have  planned  for, something  that  would  change  everything. The  next  morning,  Emily  woke  up  with a  headache,  a  simple  headache. Let's  get  you  checked  out, her  mother  suggests  a  sinus  infection, a  prescription,  reassurance  that everything  would  be  fine. However,  it  wasn't  just  a  sinus  infection. Emily  was  a  freshman  at Perry  High  School  at  the  time  of  her  stroke. She  was  a  force  on  and  off the  field  as  she  played  on  the  JV  soccer  and  track  team, always  pushing  herself,  always  giving  her  best. But  if  you  really  wanted  to  know Emily,  you'd  find  her  here. Hey,  guys,  it's  Emily  here  today. Hey,  guys,  it's  Emily  here  today. Hey,  guys,  it's  Emily, and  today  I'll  be  doing a  video  on  a  new  makeup  makeup  look. We  are  here,  and  guess  what? The  Mystery  flips  is.  Singing. Creating  Sharing  her  heart  through  music  and  art. What  it  looks  like.  It  looks  so  stunning. But  how  could  someone  so  healthy  experience such  a  catastrophic  event? What  started  as  a  simple  headache had  become  something  far  more  dangerous. Emily's  condition  was  getting  worse. A  CT  scan  would  reveal  the  unthinkable. Emily  had  a  clot, a  bleed,  and  had  suffered  a  stroke. Faced  with  limited  options, her  parents  were  given  an  impossible  choice attempt  a  high  risk  mechanical  thromboctomy, or  do  nothing  at  all. They  chose  to  fight. But  as  the  procedure  ended, another  cruel  twist  unfolded. She  was  unknowingly  battling a  rare  clotting  disorder  and  almost immediately  a  new  clot  formed. In  a  matter  of  hours, Emily's  world  had  changed. The  birthday  candles, the  celebration  now  replaced  with  machines, hospital  gowns,  and  an  uncertain  future. She  was  intubated  at Phoenix  Children's  Hospital  and  placed in  a  medically  induced  coma  for  two  weeks. I'm  Amanda  and  Emily's  sister. I  am  22-years-old. At  the  time,  how  did  doctors explain  what  was  happening  to  Emily? So,  during  that  time,  it  was, like,  when  the  peak  of, like,  COVID  was  happening  and  everything. So  we  didn't  really  get  a  chance, like  myself  to  talk  to  any  doctors. It  was  my  parents  who  brought  her  in. No  one  was  allowed  in  except the  only  time  I  spoke  to  the  doctors, it  was  maybe  Like  a  few  days  after  she  went  in, basically,  they  told  us  she  had the  brain  bleeding  and  the  brain  flooding and  that  even  though  she  went  through  surgery, they  didn't  think  she  was  going  to  make  it. They  were  telling  my  brother  and  I that  she  was  either  not  going  to  make  it  or  if  she  did, she  was  going  to  be  in  a  vegetative  state. So  basically, they  had  brought  us  in  to  say  goodbye  to  her. Do  you  remember  feeling  when  you  first found  out  Emily  suffered  a  stroke? So,  initially,  at  first, it  took  me  a  while  to process  it  just  because  you  don't  think like  anything  could  happen  to someone  that  close  to  you,  like,  something  like  that. And  then  also  she  was  so  young. So  at  first,  I  was  kind  of  in  denial. I  didn't  think  it  was  real.  I  didn't want  to  believe  it  was  happening. It  was  probably  one  of  the  worst  feelings  I  felt. In  my  life  because,  you  know, that's  my  younger  sister. I  went  through,  like,  blaming  myself,  like, thinking  maybe  I  could  have  done  something  to prevent  it  or  I  should  have  known  sooner. But  she  first  went  into  the  primary  care  doctors, and  they  told  her  she  had  a  sinus  infection. I  don't  think  they  checked  her  well  enough, so  I  don't  think  those  concerns  were  taken  as  seriously. So  they  had  diagnosed  her  with  the  sinus  infection, even  though  my  parents  had  told  them  over  and  over  again, Emily,  like,  never  gets  headaches. My  mom  and  I  both  became  actual  caregivers  as  well, and  we  still  are  How  do  you  think this  experience  changed  your  understanding  of  family? In  an  experience  like  this  happens, I  think  you  find  out  how  and  who  your  family  really  is. It  shows  a  completely  different  side of  everybody  who's  involved. I  learned  to  appreciate  my  family  more cause  a  lot  of  the  time  I  took  my  family  for  granted. I  kind  of  learned  like  your  family's  going to  be  who  sticks  with  you  through  everything  the  most. You  could  share  one  message  with  people about  stroke  recovery,  what  would  it  be? Don't  give  up.  It's  a  very  slow  process, especially  when  it's  at the  level  of  what  happened  to  Emily. Her  stroke  happened  five  years  ago. There  are  still  some  things  that  she  does  have  to work  on  to  reach,  like,  full  recovery. It's  a  miracle  how  far  she's  come. She  just  has  such  an  amazing  mindset about  it.  She's  very  positive. Is  there  something  you  would want  others  to  know  about  Emily? Who  she  is  beyond  her  medical  experience. I'm  biased  because  I'm  her  sister, but  she's  always  been  one  of  the  kindest  people I've  ever  been  blessed  to  know  in  my  lifetime. She  always  cares  so  much  about  other  people  over  herself, even  after  everything  that  happened. And  I  really  admire  Emily  for  who  she  is  as  a  person, and  I  would  love  to  be  more  like  that  someday. My  name  is  Emily  O'Hara. I'm  from  Chandler,  Arizona, and  I  am  going  to  be  turning  20  in  March. How  has  your  stroke  changed  your  daily  life? And  are  there  certain  things  that  you  can't  do  anymore? Of  course,  definitely.  It's  it's  put a  huge  dent  in  my  life where  I'm  not  able  to  be  independent, and  it  takes  a  lot  of  time  for me  to  do  things  like  process. I  also  lost  a  lot  of  function  on  one  side  of  my  body. I  think  it's  called  hesmoresis How  has  your  experience  with  healthcare  been  like? My  experience  with  healthcare, my  mom  has  been  indifferent. It's  really  hard  for  me  to  get  an  appointment  with the  neurologist  since  he's  so  busy. But  then,  like  naturopathic  doctors, they  have  been  nothing  but  amazing  to  us and  that's  what's  been  helping me  heal  going  the  natural  route. I  seem  to  have a  lot  more  flexibility  in  appointments,  you  know, my  neurologist  they  haven't  had  an  appointment  for me  for  more  than  a  year. I've  been  doing  therapy  and treatments  for  five  years  straight. Has  your  experience  changed  the  way  that  you  see  life? Yes,  definitely.  So  hard  not  being  able  to  see  the  same. I  vision  impairment  was  humongous. I  had  lots  of  optic  nerve  damage. My  last  and  final  question  is, is  there  any  information  that  you want  to  make  sure  people  learn  about  your  experience, especially  for  future  researchers, scientists  and  clinicians  that  are  working  in  this  area? I  was  in  a  coma,  doctors  basically  came  up  to  my  parents and  they  said  that  they  do  not  resuscitate  on  me. They  were  just  like,  she  she  doesn't  have  a  big  chance. And  then  they  gave  it  the  plain  wave, it  would  be  nice  and  they gave  a  little  hope  because  since  I  was young  and  you  know  how  the  brain keeps  rewiring  and  rewiring,  as  it  grows  up. There's  so  much  more  research  than  there were  back  then  about  neuroplasticity. I  really  wish  doctors  and people  would  influence  that instead  of  just  letting  families. Be  putting  us  in  that  dark  dark  position  and  it  really, like  it  really  let  us  down  to  dance  this  night If  your  heart  was  full  love  could  you  give rom  'Cause  what  about angel  They  will  come  they welcome  maker special  KM