'I had a stroke when I was just 23'

YOUNG stroke survivor Kate Rowlson is on a mission to make people aware the condition can hit victims of all ages.

- By Chris Riches

Fit and healthy Kate suffered a potentially fatal ischemic stroke — when a clot cuts off blood supply to part of the brain — aged just 23 while on holiday in France with her family.

She had felt unwell during the 2023 break and woke the next day with double vision.

An MRI scan back in the UK revealed she had suffered a stroke, which damaged the nerves in one of her eyes.

Kate, now 25, needed surgery last year to correct her vision and will have to take blood thinners for the rest of her life.

This year Kate went to Westminster with parents Nigel, 62, and Caroline, 61, to meet MPs, including Uma Kumaran, whose husband Jacob suffered a stroke last year aged 39.

She has now returned to her legal technology job in Manchester, and is campaigning with the Stroke Association and the Daily Express to call for better rollout of new treatments.