Dame Prue Leith has revealed that she was hospitalised in recent weeks, after she experienced a sudden deterioration in her sight and speech.
The Great British Bake Off star was in Yorkshire with her husband John Playfair when he called the ambulance services, as Dame Prue’s speech had become an ‘incomprehensible jumble of disconnected words’.
The 86-year-old has said in a new column that he feared she was having a stroke, but it was in fact what she has described as a ‘migraine attack’.
Dame Prue said it ‘followed a familiar path’, as she has suffered from bouts since childhood. It first constricted her vision to half of whatever she was looking at and then created ‘a bright circle of flickering, coloured lights’ in her vision.
Writing in her column in the September issue of The Oldie magazine, Dame Prue said she typically takes a cocktail of paracetamol, ibuprofen and sumatriptan to stave off the headaches.
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However, her husband feared the worst, as she wrote: ‘I tried to tell him it was just a migraine, but I couldn’t string two words together.
The NHS outlines that the symptoms of a stroke can be remembered by using the acronym FAST, which stands for Face, Arms, Speech and Time.
When an individual suffers a stroke, they may not be able to smile, their face may have dropped to one side or their mouth or eye may have dropped.
They may not be able to lift both of their arms and keep them up, as one of their arms could be feeling weak or numb.
They may exhibit slurred or unclear speech, or be unable to talk at all and have difficulty understanding if someone else is speaking to them.
People are urged to call 999 if any of these symptoms are spotted.
The charity Stroke Association offers a helpline for anyone who has suffered or been affected by stroke, or if you want further information. You can call the helpline on 0303 3033 100 or email helpline@stroke.org.uk.
‘He rang our doctor, who asked me, could I raise my arms? Yes. Make a fist? Yes. Did anything hurt? No. Was the side of my face drooping? No.
