When a single mother developed a debilitating headache at work, one of her coworkers immediately drove her to see a doctor. However, once she arrived, they diagnosed her with a simple migraine and sent her home. Within hours she would be fighting for her life and in the hospital because of that “migraine.”
As it turns out, it wasn’t a migraine.
She had developed an aneurysm, and her brain had been bleeding that entire day.
The worst month of her life
It had been a stressful month for the 29-year-old. She’s a single mother who had been focused on two main priorities – her son and making sure the bills were getting paid. Still, that was all just a part of normal life for Rebecca Reich. Then she developed a headache while working at Big Lots. It was easily the worst headache of her life. She couldn’t even function.
She described it as:
“I felt like I was screaming for people to help me, but it didn’t come out.”
It was that bad.
A misdiagnosis
Despite how unbearable the headache was, it was diagnosed as a simple migraine, and Rebecca was told to go home until it was over. That misdiagnosis nearly ended her life and took her away from her son. Her brain continued to bleed throughout the day.
By that night, there would be a priest praying by her side in the hospital, expecting it to be her last night on earth.
The doctor at the hospital immediately recognized that Rebecca had an aneurysm. He also said that it was extremely lucky that she survived after spending the day without having it treated. Her odds of survival by that point were extremely low.
A ruptured aneurysm
An aneurysm is a balloon-like bulge of an artery wall in the brain. When it bursts, the blood is released into the space between the brain and the skull. This causes several potentially deadly problems, especially if left untreated.
As the blood moves into an area that it should not be in and it begins to clot, it can cause damage to the lining of the brain and destroy brain cells. In addition, the loss of that blood within the artery means a significant drop in oxygen to the brain, which can lead to a stroke.
This was the situation that Rebecca found herself in.
Sticking with life
Rebecca underwent surgery to stop the bleeding and repair the aneurysm. She would spend the next several months recovering from that day and had to take the first two months off from work. In the meantime, bills had begun piling up, adding more stress for a single mother who had already experienced enough in a relatively short period of time.
Despite the added stress, she was grateful to simply be alive and still in her son’s life.
Finding support in the community
Rebecca’s story was shared all over the internet via social media. Even a local news station picked it and spoke to her about what she had been through. Thanks to the attention, that last bit of stress would be alleviated, and Rebecca could get back to focusing on everyday life, her health, and her small but very important family.
And getting back on track
People all over town and soon the globe would give what they could to help Rebecca catch up on the bills that had been piling up while she had been healing. A GoFundMe set up by her father had an initial goal of $5,000. It reached more than $15,000.
That outpouring of support does more than just help Rebecca’s healing; it helps to heal our hearts as well. It’s amazing to see how people, even complete strangers, can pull together and offer support when it is needed.
Do you want to hear more about Rebecca’s brush with death and her amazing recovery?
Check out the video below!
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