A TEENAGE girl was on a family holiday in Spain when she experienced the terrifying symptoms of a blood clot.

Lauren Jean, 17, woke up one night to find the entire right side of her body was numb.

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She tried to get out of bed but fell, which alerted her parents.

As she was unable to speak or move, they decided to call an ambulance.

Lauren was airlifted to Hospital Universitario Torrecardenas in Almeria for emergency surgery, which revealed she had developed a blood clot that had travelled to her brain and caused a stroke.

Doctors told her the clot was caused by her combined contraceptive pill.

Scans later showed the teen had been born with a hole in her heart, which the clot had passed through and up to her head.

The stroke left Lauren unable to walk or talk, and she spent months having physiotherapy to regain those functions.

She also had a surgery to repair the hole in her heart.

But two years on, she’s unrecognisable, and training for the 2025 London Marathon.

Lauren, now 20, from Clitheroe, Lancashire, said: “On the day I had my stroke, my parents were told the chances of me surviving were slim to none.

“I remember I couldn’t move or speak and I was being wheeled into emergency surgery. I had no idea what was going on.

“When I found out it was because I developed a blood clot and had a heart defect, I thought my life would never be the same again.

“After my surgeries I had to learn how to walk again – it was hard but they couldn’t stop me trying.”

Lauren didn’t want to sit down until she could walk again, and she then applied for the London Marathon.

“Now I’m training and stronger than I was before – you’d never know I had a stroke two years ago,” she said.

The singer-songwriter had been taking the combined contraceptive pill since the age of 13 to control heavy periods.

She was aware of the slight risks of blood clots associated with the pill, but never imagined it would affect her.

That was until August 12, 2022, while on holiday with her family in Mojacar, Spain, when the blood clot woke her up in the night.

When I was told I’d had a stroke I couldn’t believe it. I said, ‘What? Do you mean sunstroke?’

Lauren Jean

“I kept blacking out and I couldn’t ask any questions, I feared for my life,” Lauren said.

“I was wheeled into a room full of people for surgery, I couldn’t ask what surgery I was having though.

“It could have been brain surgery, heart surgery or to chop my leg off for all I knew.”

She underwent brain surgery lasting several hours where doctors found a blood clot which had caused her stroke.

Lauren said: “When I was told I’d had a stroke I couldn’t believe it. I said, ‘What? Do you mean sunstroke?’”

After days on the intensive care ward, unable to walk, talk, or even use the toilet on her own, she was taken for a heart scan, where doctors spotted a hole in her heart, called a patent foramen ovale.

Lauren begged to fly back to the UK before having further treatment.

Once home, doctors explained the reason for her blood clot had been her contraceptive pill.

ROAD TO RECOVERY

She said: “They told me the clot would have started in my leg, and normally it would have disintegrated on its own.

“But because I have this hole in my heart, it had slipped through and gone into my brain, causing my stroke.”

She began a physiotherapy course at Royal Blackburn Hospital to regain movement, and it took her six weeks to walk again.

In July 2023, she had heart surgery where a device was implanted to close the hole, after which she decided she wanted to take on a challenge – the London Marathon.

Lauren has been hitting the gym six days a week and has been running 40km a week to train.

She said: “I’m still training my right side to be stronger but I’m back to my normal self.

“Apart from being left with a twitch in my finger, you’d never know I nearly died.

“I couldn’t play piano, guitar or sing after, but I’m getting it back and I have started performing again.”

Lauren also hopes to raise awareness of strokes in young people.

She said: “I had severe headaches and tingling on one side of my body before my stroke.

“Get any symptoms checked out.

“When I was told I had a stroke, I thought, ‘Surely not, I’m only 17’.

“I kept saying to my mum, ‘This can’t be right’.

“I always thought it wouldn’t happen to me, but it can. Strokes can affect anyone.”

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BRITS who shop at Aldi have been urged to check their cupboards for tins which could pose a serious health risk.

Hundreds of tins of tuna after being recalled as they contain an allergen not listed on the back of the product, the Food Standard Agency (FSA) has said.

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“Our supplier is recalling The Fishmonger Soy and Ginger Fusions Tuna because the product contains an undeclared allergen (wheat),” Aldi said in a notice to customers.

Wheat contains gluten which is dangerous to those with a gluten intolerance or have coeliac disease.

The supermarket is has anyone who bought the tins to return them to their nearest Aldi store return it for a full refund.

The recall covers all 80g tins with the barcode: 4088600300276.

“We apologise that this product did not meet our normal high standards and thank you for your co-operation,” it added.

Around one per cent of Brits have coeliac disease but only 36 per cent are diagnosed, according to Coeliac UK.

The charity estimates around half a million people in the UK are currently undiagnosed.

Coeliac disease causes the immune system to attack the body’s own tissues when you eat gluten, which is found in wheat, barley and rye.

This damages the gut, preventing the body from taking in nutrients properly.

Symptoms include diarrhoea, tummy pain and bloating, as well as indigestion, constipation, tiredness, weight loss, an itchy rash, infertility or nerve damage.

Patients who continue to eat gluten over time can suffer long-term gut damage, weakening of the bones and iron deficiency.

Many other conditions including non-coeliac gluten sensitivity also need a gluten free diet and it is now estimated that at least 10 per cent of UK consumers are following this diet.

The FSA issues alerts if there is a problem with food products which should not be sold.

This could be because it has been contaminated with something, such as mould or metal, or it carries an incorrect ‘use-by‘ date.

A MAN says biting down on his tongue while sneezing saved his life – after it lead to the discovery that he had cancer.

Dan Durant, 26, first noticed an ulcer on the right side of his tongue in summer last year but didn’t think anything of it.

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But when Dan accidentally bit his tongue while sneezing “really hard”, the lump became inflamed and he went to the doctor.

He was shocked when he was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma – a type of cancer – and told it was aggressive and he needed to have surgery to remove the tumour.

In the 11-hour operation, doctors removed 50 per cent of Dan’s tongue to cut out the two tumours they found and reconstructed it using skin from his left forearm.

They also dissected his neck to check the cancer hadn’t spread to his lymph nodes.

Dan is currently waiting for the results from the biopsy, which will confirm if he needs to have any following treatment.

Dan, who was working as a supervisor at a bar, from Stafford, Staffordshire, said: “I sneezed really hard and ended up biting my tongue.

“It went really inflamed.

“I was directed to Stoke Hospital and told it was cancer and it was aggressive.

“I had around 50 per cent of my tongue removed and reconstructed.

“The nurse said ‘you were lucky you bit your tongue’.”

Dan often got ulcers so didn’t think anything of the lump on his tongue when he first spotted it in August 2023.

He treated it with Bonjela and stopped noticing it. He also lost a lot of weight and often had a sore throat but didn’t realise it was anything to be worried about.

Dan said: “It was a grey, whitish patch. It was the size of a one pence coin.

“I didn’t think of it after that.

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“Mostly it just felt like it wasn’t there.”

But Dan started to notice the ulcer again in April 2024 and it became inflamed in August when he accidentally bit down on it.

He went to see his doctor who was suspicious it was cancerous and redirected him to Royal Stoke University Hospital, Stoke-on-Trent.

Dan’s cancer diagnosis was confirmed a week later on August 21, 2024.

He said: “I didn’t quite believe it could be cancer.

“Being told it was upsetting. I did have a cry.

“It was so surreal.”

GRUELLING OP

Dan was told the cancer was aggressive and they needed to get him into surgery soon to remove the tumour.

On September 12, 2024 Dan had the 11-and-a-half hour operation.

Doctors had planned to do a partial removal of his tongue but had to remove 50 per cent when they found a second tumour.

At the same time the took a lymph node from his neck to do a biopsy – to confirm the cancer had not spread.

He said: “They took skin from my forearm for my tongue and then the skin from my stomach to replace skin on my arm.

“They also used my the arteries from my forearm and put them into my tongue so there was a blood flow.”

Dan then spent eight days in hospital – to ensure there were no problems following the reconstruction and so he could get used to eating and drinking again.

‘LIFE-CHANGING’

The 26-year-old is now on a soft food diet and is waiting for his results from the biopsy on his lymph node.

Dan said: “Learning to swallow properly was quite difficult.

“I’m just getting used to chewing.

“My jaw aches a lot. It’s a lot of relearning things.

“If there is little to no cancer cells left I will just be one round of radiotherapy.”

Dan was about to start a new job when he got his diagnosis and is now unable to work.

As well as raising awareness, Dan has set up a fundraiser to help fund his living costs for the next few months and will donate any remaining money to cancer research.

He said his family and friends have been a “wonderful supportive network”.

Dan said: “Everything is normal and then all of a sudden it is not.

“It’s a life-changing thing.”

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