‘My Little Boy Got Pins and Needles in the Pool — I Never Thought It Could Be a Stroke’

Evangelynne was devasted to finally learn what had caused Junior’s dramatic illness(Image: Kennedy News & Media)

Junior Fahr was just seven when a strange sensation in his left side became the first warning of a devastating brain injury. His mother says she feared she was going to lose him after his condition suddenly deteriorated weeks later.

Evangelynne Williams never imagined that a complaint of pins and needles from her seven-year-old son while swimming could be an early sign of a stroke.

But on May 12, 2026, Junior Fahr suddenly developed weakness and an unusual tingling sensation down the left side of his body while he was in the pool.

Concerned, his mother rushed him to Worthing Hospital. She says she had entered his symptoms into ChatGPT, which immediately suggested they could be signs of a stroke.

Junior was assessed at the hospital, but Evangelynne says doctors did not identify the cause and did not carry out a brain scan. The family was told to return if the symptoms happened again.

Six weeks later, they did.

Junior had several hospital visits before his problem was pinpointed(Image: Kennedy News & Media)

And this time, Junior’s condition rapidly became life-threatening.

‘He was completely non-responsive’

On June 25, Junior woke up feeling sick and began vomiting.

His condition then deteriorated dramatically. According to his mother, he became delirious, struggled to walk or support his own weight and eventually became completely unresponsive.

“He woke up and was complaining of feeling sick, [then] he was sick a couple of times,” Evangelynne said.

“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.”

Junior had been a happy, healthy kid(Image: Kennedy News & Media)

She also noticed that he was drooling heavily and said the family repeatedly had to wipe his face.

Despite the alarming symptoms, Evangelynne said they spent hours in a children’s A&E room and Junior was initially given anti-sickness medication because staff suspected he could be suffering from a migraine.

The weather was exceptionally hot that day, with temperatures reaching 38C, and Evangelynne initially wondered whether the heat could be responsible.

But then she saw something that frightened her.

“He almost looked as if he was having seizures and he was crying out in pain,” she said.

His grandmother insisted he needed more help

Evangelynne eventually called her mother for assistance.

She said her mother was firm with medical staff and insisted that Junior needed to be assessed again.

That intervention proved crucial.

A senior member of staff examined Junior and, according to Evangelynne, quickly recognised that his condition required an emergency response.

“He 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,” Evangelynne said.

Junior was moved to an adult resuscitation area.

Within moments, his mother said, a large team of doctors had gathered around him.

“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,” she recalled.

Doctors then confirmed that Junior was having a stroke.

Scans showed that an artery in his brain was blocked, causing the stroke, and he needed to be transferred urgently to Southampton General Hospital for specialist treatment.

Junior was placed in a coma for three weeks

At Southampton General Hospital, Junior was treated for a brain stem stroke.

Doctors performed a mechanical thrombectomy, a procedure used to remove a clot from a blocked blood vessel in the brain.

The seven-year-old was placed into a medically induced coma and remained there for three weeks.

For his mother, those weeks were filled with fear and uncertainty.

“I didn’t in a million years think it was a stroke, I didn’t even know children could have strokes,” Evangelynne said.

“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.”

The doctors told the family that Junior had suffered serious brain damage.

According to Evangelynne, they warned that his recovery could be extremely limited. At one point, she said, the best possible outcome doctors discussed was that he might eventually be able to operate a button on his wheelchair using his right arm.

Instead, Junior has made progress that his mother describes as defying those expectations.

‘He’s able to walk now’

Junior was discharged from hospital on August 11.

Although he has suffered brain damage, he is now walking and talking again.

Evangelynne says his behaviour has regressed significantly and that, in some ways, he appears to have returned to the developmental stage of a much younger child.

“It’s almost like he’s gone back four five years,” she said.

She remains focused on his recovery and the support he will need as he continues to adjust to life after the stroke.

The family has also launched a fundraiser to help pay for a sensory room at the end of their garden and a new wheelchair for Junior.

Hospital apologises and investigates Junior’s care

University Hospitals Sussex has said it is investigating the care Junior received.

A spokesperson for the trust said the organisation was sorry for the difficulties experienced by Junior and his family.

“We extend our sincere apologies to Junior and his family, and fully appreciate how difficult this must have been for them,” the spokesperson said.

The trust said the investigation would seek to establish what happened and whether there were lessons that could improve 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,” the spokesperson added.

Children can have strokes too

Junior’s experience has also highlighted a lesser-known fact: strokes can happen to children and teenagers, not only older adults.

The Stroke Association says childhood stroke can occur at any age, including in babies, children and teenagers. (Stroke Association shop)

The organisation recommends using the FAST test to recognise some of the most common warning signs.

Face: Can the 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 is being said? Is their speech slurred?

Time: If any of these symptoms appear suddenly, call 999.

But not every stroke presents in the same way. Other possible symptoms include sudden severe headache, seizures, dizziness or vertigo, confusion, problems with walking or balance, nausea or vomiting, drowsiness or loss of consciousness, vision problems, and sudden weakness or numbness on one side of the body. Changes in sensation, including pins and needles in an arm or leg, can also occur. (Online Community)

That broader range of symptoms is particularly important because children may not always present with the classic FAST signs.

For Evangelynne, the memory of that first day in the swimming pool remains difficult to shake.

Her son’s initial complaint seemed so ordinary that she never imagined it could be connected to something as serious as a stroke.

Six weeks later, she was watching her young son fight for his life.

Now, after weeks in hospital and a long road ahead, Junior is back home — walking, talking and continuing his recovery against odds his family once feared were almost impossible.