Stroke symptoms in kids often go unnoticed, Indiana family shares story

SELLERSBURG, Ind. — It’s a life-threatening issue that needs a fast response. The question is, would you notice the signs?

We’re talking about strokes and not just in adults. Signs are often missed in children because it’s not top of mind, even for doctors.

A Sellersburg family is counting their blessings they knew the signs of stroke, and hopes all families take a moment to learn them, too.

Ezekiel Nzombi was just 2 when he had his first stroke.

“He was playing basketball in the kitchen; I was cooking dinner. And all the sudden, he fell, very hard for someone just walking around with the ball,” Megan Nzombi, Ezekiel’s mom said. “And his cry, it wasn’t just a regular cry, it was alarming. As a mom you have that instinct something isn’t right.”

Ezekiel’s mom noticed right away he wasn’t using the right side of his body.

“I tickled both of his feet and his left one shot up, but the right one was lifeless,” Megan Nzombi said.

The symptoms only progressed from there.

“When his speech was slurred, it was very disturbing to hear that and know he was trying to communicate and know he couldn’t,” she said.

Ezekiel’s parents rushed him to Norton Children’s Hospital in Louisville.

“We told them, this is not normal, he needs to be seen as soon as possible,” Gedeon Nzombi, his dad said. 

“I just remember, I said, you’re going to think I’m crazy, but he’s having stroke symptoms,” Megan Nzombi said. “You go to the doctor’s office and you see the acronyms: FAST. He had every one. But you just don’t think of kids having that.”

Strokes happen when a blood clot or broken vessel prevents blood from getting to your brain. They can happen within minutes but the effects can last a lifetime if not caught early.

“They get treated really quickly. We treat it as an emergency here,” Dr. Arpita Lakhotia, a child neurologist at Norton Children’s Neuroscience Institute, said.  

But that hasn’t always been the case.

“If you look at studies from the last 10 to 20 years, there’s always a delay in catching pediatric stroke, because that’s not the first thing on anyone’s mind,” Lakhotia said.

She says doctors are getting better at recognizing the signs, and more often that not, the stroke is caused by an underlying health condition, like congenital heart disease, bleeding or clotting disorders, disorders of the blood vessels or infection.

Lakhotia said many times, the child is diagnosed after the stroke, which is what happened in Zeke’s case. Sometimes the fix is as simple as Aspirin or blood thinners.

“In general kids recover way better than adults,” Dr. Lakhotia said. She sees hundreds of cases a year in clinic.

You just have to know how to spot it first, and FAST: 

• F – Face Drooping – Does one side of the face droop or is it numb? Ask the person to smile. Is the person’s smile uneven?
• A – Arm Weakness – Is one arm weak or numb? Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?
• S – Speech Difficulty – Is speech slurred?
• T – Time to call 911 – Stroke is an emergency. Every minute counts. Call 911 immediately. Note the time when any of the symptoms first appear.

There are other signs to look for, especially in newborns and infants.

• Seizures
• Paralysis
• Extreme sleepiness (not wanting to wake to feed)
• Tendency to use only one side of body

“The good thing is there are a lot of mimics, like migraines, and Bell’s palsy a nerve disorder. Majority of the time it ends up being a mimicker, but because it can be such a serious condition, we have all these pathways and protocols in place,” Dr. Lakhotia said. 

Those protocols saved Ezekiel from what could have been a very different life.

Today, the 8-year-old is thriving. 

“If you met him, you would never know anything happened,” Megan Nzombi said. 

He’s graduated from his treatment program and ready to tackle 3rd grade.

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