'My son complained of pins and needles while swimming - I never thought it could be a stroke'

A mum was horrified when her seven-year-old son's 'pins and needles' while swimming turned out to be a stroke she feared could have killed him. Evangelynne Williams said she was concerned when Junior Fahr complained of pins and needles and a weakness down his left side while swimming on May 12, 2026. The concerned mum-of-one rushed him to Worthing Hospital after ChatGPT suggested they were symptoms of a stroke. There, he was assessed and Evangelynne claims perplexed doctors didn't know what it was and told her to bring him back if it happened again. The 27-year-old personal training student thought little of it until six weeks later on June 25 when Junior woke up and started vomiting, becoming delirious and unresponsive. Evengelynne rushed Junior back to Worthing Hospital and claims they were put in a room for 'hours' and Junior was simply given anti-sickness tablets for a suspected migraine. Initially thinking it could be caused by soaring UK temperatures, Evengelynne became worried when he started having seizures and crying out in pain. When Evengelynne called her mum for help, Junior was seen by a senior member of staff and 'within seconds' doctors rushed around him. Scans revealed Junior had a blocked artery on his brain, which had caused the stroke, and he was blue-lighted to Southampton General Hospital where he was placed in a coma for three weeks. Whilst in Southampton Hospital Junior was treated for a brain stem stroke and underwent a procedure called a mechanical thrombectomy to remove a clot in his brain. After leaving hospital on August 11, Junior has defied the odds and is already walking and talking again, but Evangelynne says he's suffered brain damage that's resulted in his behaviour regressing to when he was a toddler. Evangelynne, from Portslade, East Sussex, said: "It was honestly so scary. During swimming he complained his left side went weak and [he had] pins and needles down that side, so we took him to hospital. "The funny thing is, I put [the symptoms] into ChatGPT and the first thing it came up with was a stroke. They did a couple of little tests with his fingers, didn't do a scan or anything, and then sent us home." Junior, who'd complained of headaches in December 2025, went to hospital again after he woke up on June 25 and started vomiting, eventually becoming unresponsive. Evangelynne said: "He woke up and was complaining of feeling sick, [then] he was sick a couple of times. He was very delirious. He was laughing, was unable to walk or hold his body weight up [...] and his eyes were shut. He was completely non-responsive. "He was dribbling [too], we must have used about a thousand tissues because we were constantly wiping his face. We were then put in a room in children's A&E for a couple of hours and was offered anti-sickness medicine from the nurse. "Because the professionals were saying there was nothing wrong, on the day that was 38 degrees, I genuinely thought it might just be down to the heat. [Then] it almost looked as if he was having seizures and he was crying out in pain. "It wasn't until my mum came [that he was checked over by a senior staff member]. She didn't kick off but she was very firm. It's lucky she did come because, if she didn't come, I reckon he'd be dead. "They finally got someone else in, she was higher up was like 'right, we're going to get him into the adult resuscitation'. He got wheeled into [there] and I would say within two seconds of being in that room he must have had about ten to 15 doctors around him . "They confirmed it was a stroke, that he had a blocked artery and that he had to be blue-lighted as soon as possible to [another hospital] for an operation to get this clot out of his head." Now Junior is home, Evangelynne is focusing on his recovery and has set up a fundraiser to fund a sensory room at the end of the garden and a new wheelchair for him. You can donate to Junior's fundraiser here: Donate to A stroke won’t stop Junior!, organized by Evangelynne Williams Evangelynne said: "I didn't in a million years think it was a stroke, I didn't even know children could have strokes. When he was asleep in the ICU in the coma I genuinely thought I was going to wake up and it was a bad dream. "If my mum didn't come in when she came in I don't think he would still be here because we would have just been left in that room and with a stroke, every second counts. The doctors told us in a meeting that he was seriously brain damaged. "They said the best possible outcome was that he 'might' be able to click a button in his wheelchair with his right arm. He's able to walk now, he's also talking. It's almost like he's gone back four five years." A University Hospitals Sussex spokesperson said: "We extend our sincere apologies to Junior and his family, and fully appreciate how difficult this must have been for them. "We are investigating Junior’s care so that we can fully understand the circumstances, and try to identify whether there is any learning that could help improve our care in the future. "We will do all we can to support Junior and his family, listen to their concerns, and talk with them whenever they feel ready to speak with us." Signs of stroke in children (Info from Stroke Association) A stroke is a medical emergency. If you suspect a stroke, you should always call 999. The FAST test can be used to help identify strokes in children. Face: Can the young person smile? Has their face fallen on one side? Arms: Can they raise both arms and keep them there? Speech: Can they speak clearly and understand what you say? Is their speech slurred? Time: If you see any one of these three signs, it’s time to call 999. However, children and young people may have other stroke symptoms, including: Sudden, severe headache, seizures (fits), new and sudden vertigo, dizziness, or confusion, problems with walking or balance and nausea/vomiting. Other may experience drowsiness, or loss of consciousness, sudden blurred vision or loss of sight in both eyes, weakness or numbness on one side of the body, changes in sensation, like pins and needles in arms or legs.