Farida's Story

After continual urging by her Mother, Farida Kelly decided to take action and go for screening for a brain aneurysm. Her Mother had undergone an operation for the same condition a few years previously and, at the time, her neurosurgeon had advised that all her children be checked out to ensure that they too did not have the condition.

Farida ignored her Mother’s advice for sometime - thinking she was young and in perfect health - before giving in and booking an appointment to have the test.  She underwent an MRI scan which to her surprise and shock, showed up not one, but two aneurysms left and right sides of her brain.

A brain aneurysm is an abnormal bulging outward of one of the arteries of the brain. Should the swelling rupture and bleed into the brain, or the space closely surrounding the brain, it can result in haemorrhage, stroke or death.

Farida was scheduled for an initial, open-brain surgery to clip-off the base of the aneurysm. The operation went to plan and in the first few days after the operation Farida seemed to be recovering well. However, Farida then developed a condition called Aphasia, which results from neurological damage to the part of the brain responsible for speech. She knew what she wanted to say but the words would not come out. “I had some of the symptoms of a stroke patient. My ability to find the words I wanted was gone and my facial features were affected also”, says Farida. “It was a very frightening time”.

The centre of speech lies on the left-hand side of the brain, the same side on which she was operated. It was impossible to know whether the damage would be short or long-term. Fortunately, her speech began to return and she made a full recovery within a matter of months.

The next obstacle and concern was the removal of the second aneurysm, six months later. Again, open surgery was required to stem the blood supply to the aneurysm. “I was very nervous going into theatre but thankfully all went well”.

She says, “Neurosurgeon, Stephen Young, operated on both my Mother and I and we are very grateful to him for his skill in bringing us both safely through our operations. He was very supportive and reassuring to me the whole way through both my operations”.

“Overall, my treatment in Beaumont Hospital was fantastic. The nurses simply couldn’t do enough for me and were so caring and considerate. To be able to give back through raising funds goes some small way, I hope, to showing my gratitude for having the one thing that’s precious, my health and wellbeing”.

Farida's Fundraising Support for Beaumont Hospital Foundation

Farida took part in the Ladies Mini-Marathon raising funds for Richmond ICU in Beaumont Hospital.