Nine-Year-Old Boy Suffers Stroke

The local Highlands Ranch Herald ran a front-page story on August 11 that read, "Stroke strikes 9-year-old boy." Of course, I was shocked to learn that strokes can strike children, and I read the entire article.

The boy, Brady Jones, was in his physical education class when he suddenly dropped to the floor unconscious and unresponsive. What they first suspected was a seizure or massive migraine turned out to be stroke.

UPDATE: I recently corresponded with Brady's dad, Tommy. He provided some helpful information.

"12% of kids that suffer a stroke will die and more than 66% will be left disabled for the rest of their life. This only leave about 22% that will recover without harm. Guess what, Brady does not fall in that 12% or 22%. Life has been forever changed for him, us as parents and his 6-year-old brother. Post that fact."

Tommy told me the doctors have never been able to identify what caused the stroke. Brady was a healthy kid and he may not have lived had he not been as healthy as he was.

If you'd like to learn more about strokes in children, visit KidsHaveStrokes.org. Or if you'd like to help the Jones family directly, please visit Cause2Ride.com.

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Comments

[Grace]

Ryan,

My 14-year-old niece recently had a congenital incident called an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) burst in her brain. AVMs are classified as a type of stroke. AVMs are usually present at birth; some veins (usually in the brain) are malformed or twisted, and can't take the pressure and burst. You don't know you have them until they give way, unless you have reason to get a special MRI and they discover it. Maybe this is what the 9 year old boy had.

BTW, my niece survived (miraculously even by the account of the neurosurgeon) and is doing well. People seldom survive when an AVM bursts.

Blessings to you,
Grace

[Ryan Healy]

Thanks for sharing your story, Grace. I was unaware of AVMs. I'm sorry to hear that your niece suffered from an AVM, but I'm glad she is doing so well. :-) Maybe there is hope for Brady, too.

[Tommy Jones]

It does not take a rocket scientist to realize that proper diet affects everything in humans. BTW, had Brady not been as healthy and as fit as he was at the time of his stroke, he would have died per his doctors.

As Brady's dad, I can atest to the fact that fast food is not good for us, but every kid in America has been known to have some every now and then. Pediatric Strokes are so rare that even doctors are not aware of them in most cases.

I would encourage and invite you to read Brady's carepage at www.carepages.com for some updates when he was in the hospital. Brady and us lived at the hospital for 5 weeks.

Grace, I hope everything turns out good for you, but unfortunately, Brady did not have an AVM. There has been NO medical reason as to the cause of Brady's stroke.

Best Regards,
Tommy Jones
Father of 9 year old stroke survivor, Brady