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August 28, 2026

Alissa's Story

Introduction

In February 2020, Alissa Lyne’s life changed in an instant. For four days, Alissa had been experiencing a severe headache. At the time, she was in active addiction and using methamphetamine. She was also living with a PFO (patent foramen ovale), an opening between the upper chambers of the heart. While in her garage during a period of methamphetamine use, she suddenly felt what she describes as a dramatic “pop” in her head. For a brief moment, the pain disappeared.“I remember the relief feeling incredible,” Alissa says. She opened the garage door — and then collapsed. Alissa was found unresponsive hours later after a friend entered through the dog door. Because of the circumstances and her history of substance use, those around her initially believed she had experienced an overdose. She was given Narcan six times and taken to hospital, where she says the initial focus was on a suspected overdose or suicide attempt. Alissa’s mother, however, was concerned that something else might be happening and raised the possibility of a stroke. Brain imaging was then carried out. It revealed that Alissa had experienced a catastrophic hemorrhagic stroke involving her pons, an area of the brainstem that plays an important role in many essential functions.

“I could not speak, walk, eat or communicate”

Alissa was placed on life support and developed Locked-In Syndrome — a serious neurological condition in which a person may remain conscious and aware while losing most of their ability to move or communicate.

She could not speak, walk, eat or communicate normally. She required a tracheostomy and feeding tubes, and Alissa recalls being given approximately a one per cent chance of survival.

She survived.

What followed was an incredibly challenging period of rehabilitation.

“Recovery became my full-time job,” Alissa says.

She had to relearn how to speak, swallow, walk and function independently, working through intensive physical, occupational and speech therapy.

There were months when she could not speak. At times, even drinking safely was difficult. Progress came slowly, and rebuilding her independence took years.

The life Alissa returned to was not the same life she had before her stroke.

But she kept moving forward.

Recovery beyond rehabilitation

For Alissa, recovery did not end when formal rehabilitation ended.

It continued through the everyday work of adjusting to disability, rebuilding confidence, setting new goals and learning how to live within a life that had changed dramatically.

Her recovery was also intertwined with another major turning point in her life. Alissa has remained sober since February 18, 2020.

For years, she says she carried shame about the circumstances surrounding her stroke and recovered largely in private. Today, she has chosen to speak openly about her experience in the hope that it may help others.

“I choose to speak about all of it because honesty may reach someone who needs it,” she says.

Alissa now shares her story to raise awareness of brainstem stroke, Locked-In Syndrome, disability, the relationship between substance use and stroke risk, and the importance of recognizing possible stroke warning signs and seeking urgent medical attention.

Her experience also highlights how assumptions about substance use can complicate the recognition of other serious medical emergencies. For Alissa, her mother’s concern that she may be having a stroke helped prompt the brain imaging that identified what had happened.

Refusing to let others define recovery

Alissa credits her faith, her family, her daughter, therapy and her determination to keep going with helping her through some of the most difficult periods of her recovery.

Today, she uses social media to educate others, encourage fellow survivors and turn a painful chapter of her life into advocacy and purpose.

Her message to other stroke survivors is one she learned through years of rebuilding:

“Do not let someone else decide the limits of your recovery. Progress may be painfully slow, and life may look different afterward, but keep setting goals and keep showing up for yourself.”

Alissa’s story is one of survival, recovery and honesty. By sharing both the difficult circumstances surrounding her stroke and the years of work that followed, she hopes to help reduce stigma, increase awareness and remind other survivors that recovery can continue long after rehabilitation ends.

August 28, 2026

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