A mum who went to bed with a “banging” headache woke up six weeks later in hospital after suffering a brain aneurysm. Natalie Fisher, from Stockport, was suffering from a headache when she asked her eldest son to look after her youngest, who is autistic and non-verbal, while she took a rest on December 2, 2024.
However, her son soon became concerned after the mum-of-four failed to wake up from her sleep and she was found lying motionless. Emergency services were called and the mum-of-four was rushed to hospital by ambulance. It was later revealed to her family that Natalie had suffered a brain aneurysm, a condition where a brain artery bleeds into the brain or surrounding area, causing a hemorrhagic stroke.
“I went to bed because I had this banging headache,” Natalie said. “All the children went to school, but my youngest wasn’t in, and my eldest son, who is 19, was in bed because he hadn’t been picked up for work on that morning of all mornings. I went upstairs and asked him to go and watch my youngest, who is severely autistic and non-verbal.
“He went down to look after him while I went for a lie down. I don’t suffer with headaches often so it was very weird for me. I remember my head just popped and I fell back onto the bed. He came upstairs later and found me lying there and phoned the ambulance.”
In hospital she remained in a comatose state, later explaining how she could hear everything going on in the room around her, before being transferred to Salford Royal Hospital, where open brain surgery ultimately saved her life, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Natalie explained: “I remember my mum asking me to squeeze her hand. I remember seeing my family sitting there even though my eyes were closed. All around me.
“I remember the nurses saying they may need to turn off my life support machine and me just wanting to scream. I was trying to move and nothing was. I couldn’t talk or move yet I was still alive, it was surreal.
“My family were being told I was struggling to be alive on my own but I still heard everyone coming to see me, chatting among themselves and crying and I was just lying there. I couldn’t move, speak or even say I love you.”
At another point, she claims to have seen her nan, who passed away four years ago, in front of her, telling her to “go back to your mother” moments before she opened her eyes for the first time.
“I used to think ‘you weirdo’ when people said stuff like that, but now I’ve been one to experience this for myself,” she said.
Natalie was later transferred to Salford Royal Hospital for surgery. When an aneurysm is located, a neurosurgeon typically carries out a procedure that seals it shut using a metal clip that stays permanently clamped on the aneurysm.
The mum-of-four eventually opened her eyes, six weeks after going to lie down, on January 14.
She is still under the care of the specialists and is booked back in to go for a brain scan to check her progress. She currently has issues with her throat and voice box due to the ventilator tubes that kept her breathing.