Emma Banks is missing a big chunk of her brain. A stroke she suffered before she was born left a large fluid-filled cyst where part of her brain was supposed to be.
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Not that you’d know it to look at her.
The gregarious two-year-old has hit all her milestones except one – she’s yet to walk unaided, but is almost there.
“I had no idea children could have a stroke, certainly not babies who haven’t been born yet,” said Emma’s mum Dee Honeychurch.
Emma passed her health checks in hospital after birth and although she struggled to breast feed it was not considered unusual.
“As time passed, Emma continued to develop normally, and although she protested tummy time, like so many, she passed every check up,” Ms Honeychurch said.
When Emma was nine months old Ms Honeychurch noticed she preferred using her left hand, and her right hand and arm had dropped. She didn’t grasp or reach with her right, didn’t lift her knees and showed no interest in crawling.
A gut feeling led Ms Honeychurch to have Emma checked out and within days she was told her first-born had suffered a stroke.
“Initially we were told that she may not walk or talk or all these things we take for granted because part of her brain is missing. It’s really remarkable what she can do.”
Doctors cannot pinpoint at what stage during gestation that Emma suffered her stroke, but have since told Ms Honeychurch that if scans had picked up the brain damage she would have been advised to terminate.
“Emma is my little stroke warrior,” Ms Honeychurch said.
“I wish it didn’t have to happen to my child but every day she does something new it’s like a miracle to witness those things happen.”
Emma can crawl, talk in sentences and is almost walking independently. The stroke left her with right side weakness in her hand and arm and cerebral palsy.
“We do physical therapy in everything we do,” Ms Honeychurch said. “We might get the easel out and do painting, which she thinks is fun, but it’s an opportunity for her to … reach out and stretch her arm, which is the most affected part of her body, and learn to do tasks.”
Ms Honeychurch said most people thought stroke was an older person’s disease, but it could impact anyone.
“There must be greater awareness of the signs of paediatric stroke. Emma had been carrying these signs for a few months before I had noticed anything was amiss. Many parents go through this with their child, where there is a delayed diagnosis and it can mean some early intervention opportunities are missed.”
May is Pediatric Stroke Awareness Month.