Growing up, Krista Figari never imagined she’d be the star of her own real-life thriller. But one fateful morning in her Manhattan apartment, life took an unexpected turn that would leave her shaken to the core.
“When I turned around after making my bed, I just kind of fell toward my dresser and fell down onto the floor,”
Krista recalls. The room spun as fear gripped her heart. At 38 years old, experiencing a stroke was the last thing on her mind. Strokes were something for older people, not someone like her.
“It was definitely scary…I associate a stroke with someone who’s old,”
she shared.
As she lay paralyzed on the floor, unable to move but somehow able to reach for her phone, Krista dialed for help. The minutes stretched into eternity as she waited for assistance, each second ticking by with excruciating slowness.
Fortunately, help arrived in the form of her cousin and building super who rushed to her aid. Through sheer determination and quick thinking, they managed to get emergency responders access without breaking down doors—a true feat considering the circumstances.
“It’s been nearly a year since Figari had her life-changing stroke.”
Today, as Krista looks back on that harrowing experience captured by her nanny cam—every terrifying moment etched in time—she hopes to raise awareness about strokes among younger individuals like herself.
Expert neurologist Dr. Nicholas Janocko sheds light on wake-up strokes – a lesser-known phenomenon where symptoms manifest upon waking up:
“Symptoms are discovered as the patient awakens.”
he explains.
At NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, Krista received life-saving treatment for what was diagnosed as a wake-up stroke. Thanks to timely intervention and cutting-edge medical care, she was able to avoid long-term disability and paralysis.
“Had she not come to the hospital in time…she may not have been treated…”
Dr. Janocko emphasizes how critical swift action is during such medical emergencies.
The revelation that Krista had a common heart condition called patent foramen ovale (PFO) added another layer of complexity to her journey towards recovery. This hole in her heart posed an increased risk of future strokes—an unsettling reality she had never imagined grappling with before.
Despite facing this unexpected health challenge head-on through a minimally invasive procedure to close the PFO hole in her heart, Krista still experiences some residual weakness on one side of her body—a constant reminder of mortality’s fragile thread that binds us all together.
Undeterred by this setback, Krista has embraced life with newfound vigor and appreciation. Her story serves as a poignant reminder for everyone to heed their bodies’ warning signals and act promptly when something feels amiss—because every second truly counts when it comes to matters of health and well-being.
