Pam Jones has no memory of having a stroke in October last year, but she counts herself lucky to be alive.
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"I do volunteer work at Vinnies at their shop here, I went and I was there at 8.30am, I did a bit of work, 9am I went to open the shop and two days later I woke up in Melbourne," she said.
Mrs Jones' said the stroke was severe, but to the surprise of her doctors, she was fine.
"I told them there was nothing wrong with me and they could not believe how strong I was," she said.
"I wasn't paralysed or anything, they just couldn't believe it."
Mrs Jones, from Deniliquin in NSW's Riverina, attributed her quick recovery to her treatment through the NSW Telestroke Service, which offers regional and rural residents access to life-saving stroke diagnosis and treatment by connecting local doctors to specialist stroke physicians via video.
When paramedics rushed Mrs Jones to Deniliquin Hospital she was assessed by Medical Director of the NSW Telestroke Service, Professor Ken Butcher, who prescribed her with clot-busting medication while a nurse in the hospital carried out the work.
Mrs Jones' husband Terry said the technology was absolutely brilliant.
"How grateful am I? Well as grateful as I can be," he said.
"My wife is OK, we can live our lives, we're going to Queensland in three weeks again, and we can just go overseas if we want to.
"Otherwise she may not have even been here."
IN OTHER NEWS:
Telestroke launched in March 2020 and more than 2300 patients across the state have used the service. Mrs Jones was the first Deniliquin patient to use the service.
For National Stroke Week (August 8 to 14) Mrs Jones reminded residents a stroke is a time-critical medical emergency and people should call Triple Zero (000) and seek help immediately.
The F.A.S.T. test is an easy way to remember the most common signs of stroke:
- Face: Check their face. Has their mouth drooped?
- Arms: Can they lift both arms?
- Speech: Is their speech slurred? Do they understand you?
- Time: Is critical. If you see any of these signs call 000 straight away.
Deniliquin Hospital Telestroke team's Dr Rachel James said the service was dissolving the geographical barrier for rural communities and enabling specialist care to start right at the beginning of the patient's journey.
"When patients come back from their acute stroke, we're the GPs that take care of them as well," she said.
"So knowing that they got the best care in that acute period of time we know that they are going to have a better outcome as well."