Mum, 29, thought she was being 'dramatic' about her headaches... she wasn't

A mum thought she was being 'dramatic' before collapsing at work following a stroke.

Jess Tierney, 29, began experiencing shoulder pain, headaches and a numb mouth shortly before falling ill. Paramedics initially put her symptoms down to a panic attack or Bell’s palsy – a temporary paralysis of muscles in the face.

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However, scans later showed a blockage in her brain. The mother-of-two eventually underwent vital surgery to remove the blood clot.

Mrs Tierney, who works in teaching recruitment, claims she had none of the traditional risk factors for stroke as she was a healthy weight, stayed fit and did not smoke.

She told the PA news agency she was experiencing shoulder pain while driving to work one morning in February, but put it down to a strain from her pole fitness class. Things progressed on her lunch break when she developed a headache and her mouth and tongue went numb on one side.

“I was eating my dinner and started developing a headache in my temples,” she said. “I took some paracetamol and it wouldn’t go away. At about 2.30pm, I collapsed. It was a good job I wasn’t at home alone.”

After being taken to hospital, she waited until 7.30pm for a CT scan which showed a blood clot. Another scan at 8pm revealed a blockage in the brain.

By then, Mrs Tierney said she was “outside the window” for thrombolysis, a treatment which disperses a clot and is given within four-and-a-half hours of stroke symptoms first appearing.

Another treatment, known as a thrombectomy, surgically removes blood clots from the artery. They are usually performed within six hours of symptoms appearing, but the window can be extended to 24 hours in selected