Because of boyfriend's continuous requests, girlfriend visited hospital — she did not know it would miraculously save her life
Timely medical intervention can make a huge difference in a person's prognosis. In 18-year-old Katie Rangel's case, her boyfriend noticed some unusual signs in her health and encouraged her to see a doctor immediately. They both had no idea that the move would end up saving her from an oncoming stroke. Rangel didn't think much of her symptoms at first and decided to visit the hospital only because her boyfriend insisted. However, she was shocked when medical staff later revealed that the stroke could have left her disabled, per CBS News.
Rangel had started feeling unwell a few weeks before her prom. She had been feeling weakness and numbness in her right leg and was also experiencing dizziness. She simply thought that she was just tired. But her boyfriend felt that something was wrong and insisted that they should seek medical help. "He was just saying, 'Should I call 911?' I just remember going into the ambulance and then I think I just kind of blacked out," Rangel recounted. The paramedics treated her for a seizure inside the ambulance before taking her to the Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Grapevine. The doctors found out that Rangel had suffered a stroke.
Rangel had a hole in her heart, and through that, a blood clot from her leg had travelled to the left side of her brain. Interventional Radiologist Abdul R. Quadeer treated Rangel in the ER and pointed out that she was really lucky to have survived the stroke. Her parents met her at the hospital and were thankful that their daughter got a second chance at life. "It was really, really scary and emotional. I didn't know what to do at the time," her dad, Gilbert Rangel, expressed. "But what was going through my mind was, 'My normal child, will she be normal again?'" The doctor explained that Rangel's diagnosis was a rare medical case for an 18-year-old.
"Luckily, she came to the ER because if she didn’t come to us, she’d probably be disabled right now," Dr. Qadeer revealed. The doctors were able to use a device to get the clot out of her brain. Rangel already had a dress for her prom and had made plans when she suffered the stroke. Because of the timely intervention, she was able to attend her prom two weeks later with her boyfriend. She had recovered fully and could dance "almost the whole night" during her prom. "It was really fun."
The teen came back in to thank the medical team who saved her life, per the outlet. She expressed that things would have been really different without their help and she gave each of them a big hug. "I probably would have lost more than dead tissue in my brain. I was thankful that I could speak better, and I could walk and balance." Rangel's mom added, "What they do day to day, it saves lives." The girl was inspired to become a nurse after she saw the people who took care of her that day. "Because everyone was so nice, I just felt like I would be great at this job." Referring to Rangel's case, doctors urged people to watch out for signs like facial asymmetry, speech disruptions and difficulty in moving arms or legs and get to the ER if they experience any of it.