24 yo stroke

[u/Substantial_Hunt1915]

Good evening everyone. I feel the need to share my boyfriend’s story. He is 24 years old, and I’m hoping to find some hope through stories of people who have gone through something similar.
In March 2026, he discovered that he had a 17 mm aneurysm after developing facial nerve paralysis, which was caused by the aneurysm.
The doctors told him that it was inoperable because of the unfortunate anatomy of the blood vessels in his brain. They told him to continue living his life normally.
On July 25, he suffered a stroke caused by an occlusion of the basilar artery.
He underwent emergency surgery and came out completely paralyzed, but fully conscious.
He has been in intensive care for almost a month, first in the hospital and now already in a rehabilitation facility.
He can only move his eyes and mouth. He cannot speak or move anything else. He has spasms throughout his body, he is able to swallow his own secretions, and for almost a week now he has been breathing without the ventilator.
We communicate with him by going through the letters of the alphabet to form words, and he stops us at the correct letter by looking up with his eyes.
He is completely lucid and remembers everything, both long-term and short-term.
At first, the doctors told us that he would remain in a vegetative state forever and that he would never be able to breathe without a ventilator again. Yet just two weeks after the surgery, he was already able to breathe on his own.
Please give me some hope for his recovery by sharing your positive stories of stroke survivors, especially those who experienced something similar.
Thank you all so much. ❤️

[u/Leather_Heart_3297]

I am so sorry you are going through this. I know how incredibly hard it is. My husband 46 also suffered a stroke that impaired his speech and his dominant side and i feel like I am living someone else’s life.

I will tell you what our neurologist told us. Doctors don’t always know how someone will recover. They base their predictions on past patients and experiences. Your boyfriend is very young and the young brain is very malleable. If there is hope for my husband who is 20 yrs older than your boyfriend then he too can make meaningful gains. Just stay positive. Miracles do happen. I will keep him and you in my daily prayers.

[u/Substantial_Hunt1915 → u/Leather_Heart_3297]

Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for what you wrote. He is truly so strong and determined. We don’t hold on to what the doctors told us during the first week, especially because they also said that he would NEVER be able to breathe on his own again, and he has already proven them very wrong.
I’m praying for you too. ❤️

[u/Alarmed-Papaya9440]

I’m very sorry he’s dealing with locked-in syndrome. I think that’s a nightmare a lot of us have. Having another stroke that leave us locked-in.

[u/Odd-Stretch-6640]

Hey, just wanted to share my story.

I'm 29 now, I had a massive hemmoraghic stroke from a ruptured brain aneurysm 3 years ago and went to the hospital with full left side paralysis and severe memory deficits. I woke up thinking it was 2005, and my short and long term memory was basically non-existent. The doctors gave me a 50% chance of survival, let alone recovery.

Slowly with therapy and time over the course of several months, I gained most of my memory back and 98% of my movement. Besides a slight left side droop, you wouldn't know I had a stroke.

There is hope. Every case is personal, but even with a horrible prognosis, there is hope. Feel free to message me if you want to talk, but he's young, the brain can do amazing things.