Jersey stroke survivor fears islanders are missing out on a ‘miracle treatment’ which saved her life

A Jersey woman who survived a life-threatening stroke thanks to a remarkable medical procedure called thrombectomy is backing pleas for it to be made available for everyone in the island who would benefit.

The Stroke Association says very few receive it because patients have to be flown to a specialist hospital in England for the treatment.

With a thrombectomy, clots blocking the supply of blood to the brain can be physically plucked out, rather than that usual treatment using drugs to slowly dissolve them.

The procedure vastly reduces disability and has been known to reduce hospital stay by many months, with some patients being able to leave the next day.

Julie Dryburgh was flown to Southampton after her stroke and this she believes has saved her life.

Julie Dryburgh was flown to Southampton for a thrombectomy after her stroke and believes this saved her life. She says anyone who has a stroke and would benefit from a thrombectomy, should be given the same opportunity she had.

Julie’s stroke happened at home in St Brelade on the morning of Sunday 22 May, this year, and was caused by two blood clots which had formed after she fell and banged her head the previous day.

Julie, a 52-year-old office manager, spiritual healer and psychic medium, said: “I woke up on the Sunday but something wasn’t quite right.

“I felt really, really agitated, which is unlike me because I’m always happy in the morning, but the agitation I felt all over my body but especially in my right arm at the time of waking was phenomenal.

“I kept hearing the word ‘tablet’ ‘tablet’ in my head so I thought right, let’s get that tablet, but as I tried to get out of bed, rolling onto my left-hand side, I just rolled and bang, hit the floor then started being violently sick.

“By this time, my partner Gary came in as he heard the thump and saw me on the floor being violently sick. He ran to get a bowl and when he came back he tried to help me stand to take me to the toilet, but I couldn’t; my whole left side had gone.

“He clicked what was happening, as he asked me something and I was apparently just mumbling, my speech had now gone. So it was Face, Arm, Speech… all gone.

“Gary didn’t hesitate in ensuring the ambulance was called. He was well aware that time was of the essence as his late nan had had numerous strokes so he knew the signs and this helped to save my life.

“I was rushed to A&E, numerous scans and everything later, the doctor on duty, with Gary’s persistence were saying that because I was young, fit and healthy they highly recommend that I be sent immediately to Southampton.”

Julie was flown by private plane accompanied by a medical team and taken straight to Southampton General Hospital where the thrombectomy was carried out. Two days later she was well enough to fly back to Jersey on a scheduled flight.

She has made a remarkable recovery and has been left with no lasting effects from the stroke.

“When I went for my check-up. I walked in feeling and looking absolutely 100 per cent. The doctor said ‘Do you realise how lucky you’ve been? You could have died.’

“She explained how the quick actions of the medical team in A&E, especially doctor Kirstie in realising that I was perfect for the thrombectomy procedure all helped in saving my life.

“I was quite humbled and I felt this humongous love and joy within me. I can’t really explain it other than that, but what I knew from that moment on was that my life would never be and feel the same again.

“Everybody from the paramedics to the hospital staff, to Doctor Kirstie, they all helped save my life especially Doctor Kirstie. I can’t thank her enough, I did send her a personal note. She needs to know that thanks to her knowing that I was an ideal candidate for the thrombectomy procedure and sending me so Southampton in my mind, saved my life.

“If a thrombectomy is going to save someone’s life why isn’t it readily available? Everybody who is an ideal candidate for it should have the right to have that procedure. I am alive because of having a thrombectomy and I want to be the voice to let the right people know that you can be saved by having it.

“Everybody deserves the right to have the best form of care, don’t they? Everybody has the right to the best option for what happened to them and if by having a thrombectomy can save others, then why are they not having it? That’s my big question.

“Funding has to be available to save people’s lives. It’s a no brainer for me that if people who are right for the procedure get it then they won’t need the long-term care that would required if they don’t get it. So they are saving money. It’s a win-win situation.

“I want to say a huge thank you to all that were there for me, from Gary my partner, to the ambulance crew, to the hospital staff deciding the best care for me and that I be sent to Southampton without hesitation to the doctor and nurse who were with me on the private plane, to the ambulance crew who met us at Southampton, the surgeon who performed the thrombectomy, to everybody on the ward and to everyone else that were a part to saving my life.

“I would not be here to tell this story had I not had a thrombectomy, it’s as simple as that.”

Jacqui Cuthbert, the Stroke Association’s associate director for the South West and the Channel Islands, said: “Thrombectomy is a miracle treatment that pulls patients back from near-death and alleviates the worst effects of stroke. It’s shocking that patients are missing out and being saddled with unnecessary disability.

“A relatively small investment could save the Government a much larger amount in health and care services and there would be the life-changing benefits to stroke patients.

“Studies show that around one in 10 of all stroke patients – strokes where the clot is trapped in a larger blood vessel – would benefit from a thrombectomy. Almost four in 10 (39%) thrombectomy patients experience reduced disability as a result of the procedure.

“The procedure can be performed up to 24 hours of symptoms starting, but it’s most effective within the first six hours. The sooner it is carried out the better results can be.”

Thrombectomies need to be carried out by trained medical teams using specialist equipment. Doctors carrying out the thrombectomy insert a catheter into the patient’s groin, guiding it up through an artery to the brain and then pulling the clot out.

Jacqui said: “It’s obviously not feasible to perform these in Jersey but the Government’s Health and Community Services must commit funding to fly patients to England when a thrombectomy offers the best chance for their future.”

There are more than 1,500 stroke survivors in Jersey and records show that in the year to March 2022 114 people had a stroke.

The charity’s Jersey Stroke Recovery Service supports stroke survivors, families and carers of people affected by stroke in the Island and can be contacted on 07829 845086.