Seven-year-old Chloe Kwasny collapsed in the car on her way home from school three weeks ago. After being rushed to The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) doctors found she had suffered a stroke, caused by a blockage of the artery supplying blood to the left side of her brain.

Director of the RCH’s childhood stroke program Dr Mark Mackay said “Stroke registries have allowed more cases to be identified and techniques to detect stroke have improved significantly. But as more children with cardiac disease are surviving after birth, we’re seeing more children having complications such as stroke.”

The RCH now sees between 20 and 40 paediatric stroke cases a year.

Chloe is now undergoing rehabilitation at the RCH. She has regained her speech and is learning to walk again. “Everything is still up in the air, but so far her progress has been really positive and she hasn’t gone backwards,” her father, Paul, said.

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