When The Sunday Project presenter Tommy Little was all set to do an interview with a young stroke survivor, he didn’t expect to break down in tears.
“A few weeks ago when one of our producers gave me the low-down on an incredible, young stroke survivor, I was really keen to do a story with her,” he told the audience before the story.
“But what that jerk didn’t tell me was that the person I would be interviewing is someone that I already knew.”
When he rocked up the interview, he saw none other than his mate and colleague Bree Valvo, who’d never mentioned the ordeal she went through at such a young age.
“I’m not a big talker about it, and it was only just recently – at my 15-year mark last year – that I posted my first post about it on Facebook,” Bree told Tommy.
The only reason she got got help so quickly, she explained, was because she had snuck a boy over who was then able to run upstairs and let her parents know what was going on.
When paramedics arrived, they wrote it off as a drug overdose, until the finally took a blood test. Even they couldn’t believe someone so young could have a stroke.
But it was Bree’s recovery which brought Tommy to tears.
“Mum told me [the doctors] told her I’d never be able to smile again, and I’m like… ‘that’s my tool’, I get away with things when I smile,” she said.
“That can’t happen, so I’ve been working really hard on being able to smile.”
Tommy was lost for words, as one would be when hearing about a mate’s near-death experience for the first time.
“Bree you’re making me cry, it’s just sad to think of a young person,” he said.
There’s no time to fuck around when someone has a stroke. With each minute that passes, around 1.9 million brain cells die. This means getting help ASAP can be the difference between a lifelong disability and a smooth recovery.
When young people like Bree are misdiagnosed as having overdosed, it wastes critical time which could have a huge impact.
“I feel very lucky and I’m even proud of myself that I’m sitting here with you and actually having a conversation,” she said.
“I’m proud of you too,” Tommy replied.
