» Learn more about pediatric stroke.

» View Bailey's video.

ailey Carlson, 18, is not what most people think of when they think of stroke survivors. She was only 16 when she had her stroke.

Carlson admits that thinking about her stroke makes her tear up, but she’s hanging in there. “There are definitely days,” she says, “when I think I won’t ever be normal again, but I am making steady progress. I am hoping one day that my experience can be helpful to others in my situation.”

Carlson’s stroke happened at school. She had a headache, sat down hard on the floor and couldn’t get back up—her stroke had paralyzed one leg. She spent nearly 10 weeks in the hospital, receiving physical, occupational and speech therapies.

Determined to “get back on track,” Carlson immediately asked for a tutor while she was in the hospital so she could keep up with her homework. Only 10 days after her release from the hospital, she went back to school. She now attends classes, is active in theater and band, and holds a part-time job.

Carlson describes herself as “outgoing, positive, energetic and persistent.” She enjoys going to movies, riding her bike and “finding adventures to go on.” She plans to attend college with a major in chemistry and a minor in math.

Email Bailey.

Like Bailey 
on Facebook.

Read Bailey’s Faces of Stroke
blog posts.