Yahoo Finance Six-year-old girl saves mum's life after she has stroke as plane takes off
A young girl saved her mother's life after she spotted her having a stroke on board a flight caused by a change in cabin pressure during take off.
Alexandra Hajipaulis, 39, was on a Ryanair flight to Crete with her daughter Jaideen, 6, when she suffered an ischemic stroke on July 17, 2018.
The stroke is thought to have been caused by an air embolism that travelled to Ms Hajipaulis' brain when air pressure in the cabin changed as the plane ascended.
Brave Jaideen noticed her mum was unconscious and alerted an air hostess - thankfully, a doctor sitting behind the mother recognised her symptoms.
He ordered staff to make an emergency landing in Italy, but Ms Hajipaulis was rushed to hospital after falling into a coma.
The next day she underwent hemicraniectomy surgery - a procedure where a large flap of the skull is removed and the dura is opened.
The passage gives space for the swollen brain to bulge and reducing intracranial pressure.
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The mother-of-two, a former museum worker from Wolverhampton, was left paralysed in both legs and her left arm.
But she says she is grateful that her daughter's quick thinking actions saved her life.
Mrs Hajipaulis said: "Jaideen saved my life - she knew something was wrong, she got me help even though she was only six years old at the time, I'm so proud of her.
"The stroke has completely changed my life - it's ruined my life. I can't walk any more, I'm stuck in bed, I can't work, I miss being a mum to my girls.
"Before this happened to me, I was having two showers a day, but I haven't even had one since my stroke and that was 17 months ago. I was completely unconscious on the plane and then for the whole time I was in Italy so I can't remember what happened.
"I didn't even speak until six weeks after my stroke, I was completely out of it."
Her mother, Lorna Hajipaulis, 66, has moved back to the UK from Crete to care for her daughter and two grandchildren full time.
After being returned from Italy, Alex was admitted to ITU at Queen Elizabeth Hospital on 13 August, before she was moved to a rehab centre in Wolverhampton in October 2018.
Lorna then moved Alex home for nine months before she was offered a place at a care home in September this year, where she remains.
