Flat on the floor, his left side paralysed and speech slurred, Noah’s parents knew something was dreadfully wrong with their 15-year-old son and, as we head into National Stroke Week, they talk to BEN ROBSON about his road to recovery.
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“I FEEL blessed.”
Less than one year ago, Henty’s Noah Knobel must have been hard pressed to say the same thing.
Sitting here at the family breakfast table — this time the smell of home baking permeating the farmhouse — with the late winter sun streaming through the windows, it’s hard to picture the tranquillity broken.
It’s harder still to think of Noah, 15 at the time, as being a stroke victim.
His parents, Tania and Phil, could never have foreseen that morning in November would be different to any other Saturday, and nor could Noah’s brother, Tom, 17.
“Tom just finished his brekkie,” Noah says.
Noah has clearly lost none of his wit as he ribs his older brother.
“I was making brekkie in the kitchen when it happened,” Tom explains. “I just thought he was looking for something on the floor so I sat down with the television and ate my breakfast.”
It was just a normal Saturday, Phil says.
“I’d just got out of bed and Noah was telling me what he was going to do for the day.
“I walked out of the room, and when Tania and I came back in we could see Noah flat on the floor, like he was looking along it for something he’d dropped.”
Having volunteered in the Rural Fire Service where they had been first aid officers and attended car accidents, Tania and Phil knew they couldn’t panic, though it was clear something was wrong.
Noah was trying to pick himself up from the floor but his left side was paralysed.
They couldn’t understand him because Noah’s speech was slurred.
“He had the full facial droop,” Tania says.
“And his pupils were so dilated, as soon as we saw that we knew he wasn’t mucking around.”
“It’s hard to explain,” Noah says.
“I just thought everything was all right, I’d come to.”
“It was probably when they said we’ll start organising a plane for Melbourne that I thought ‘this must be pretty bad’..."
- NOAH KNOBEL
Knowing that something more serious had happened, Tania moved to the bedroom so as not to alarm Noah and called for an ambulance.
“There was no movement in his left side, his left leg was out and about and I still remember that,” Phil says.
So Noah’s parents and Tom tried to make him comfortable, knowing an ambulance to the remote farm has taken more than an hour and a half to arrive before — “that’s just life”, Tania says, when you live out on a farm. In the middle of Lockhart, Holbrook, Albury and Wagga ambulance, paramedics could be coming from almost anywhere.
To make things easier, Phil met the ambulance in town.
“It was disconcerting, not knowing what to expect to find when I came back,” he says.
“And we had no idea what was ahead of us,” Tania says.
“We knew we’d be going to hospital but we didn’t know if it was for hours, days or weeks.
“So that was the time where a lot of prayer took place, we had 20 or 30 minutes and, unless you panic, what else are you going to do?
“I don’t think Noah remembers any of that and I was just glad when the ambulance turned up.”
Even now that sense of relief is palpable.
The family arrived in Albury faster than they’ve ever got there before.
“Noah said to me he thought they only used lights and sirens for life-threatening situations,” Tania says.
“And I didn’t want to alarm him and wanted to keep him chilled, so I said, yes, that’s what I thought too.”
For Noah it was only when they did an MRI that he began to realise the seriousness of his own situation.
“It was probably when they said we’ll start organising a plane for Melbourne that I thought ‘this must be pretty bad’,” Noah says.
“I wasn’t freaked about it, I just thought let’s see what happens — I honestly didn’t know what to expect.”
To say that Noah’s recovery has been little short of miraculous is no understatement.
By the time he arrived in Albury, he was beginning to get movement back in his left arm.
“He’s always been a fit kid,” Phil says.
Indeed, according to the National Stroke Foundation, it is a myth that only older adults have strokes.
While people over 65 are at higher risk of stroke, anyone of any age can have a stroke — including teenagers, children, newborns and even unborn babies. Estimates vary, but the foundation says that stroke affects about six in 100,000 children and is among the top 10 causes of death in childhood.
Ahead of National Stroke Week, which begins on Monday, foundation chief executive officer Erin Lalor wants people to take action to reduce their stroke risk, learn more about stroke and help raise awareness in the community.
“We can come together and take action to stop stroke and challenge its impact on the community,” Dr Lalor says.
“Stroke touches all of our lives in some way, whether it is personally, through a family member, a friend or colleague.”
Dr Lalor says ‘FAST’ is an easy way to remember and recognise the signs of stroke.
“Everyone should know the signs and it is easy to remember: Face — has the person’s mouth drooped?
“Arms — can they lift both arms? Speech — is their speech slurred and do they understand you?
“And Time — time is critical, if you see any of these signs call 000.”
In about one quarter of cases of stroke in children no cause is found. Noah, a healthy, active, typical teenager, is one of those.
But what is a given is that in country towns people gather round in times of need.
“We sent out a couple of texts,” Phil says.
“By that night there was a network that went out. We were getting texts back Sunday lunch and Sunday night — it was mindboggling the support.
“Regardless of denomination they were all praying, we couldn’t believe where some people heard from.”
Just nine months on and Noah is no longer taking medication, apart from aspirin.
His left-hand side is physically weaker, but that hasn’t stopped him drumming, and schoolwork had been leaving him fatigued.
“One of the hardest things for a 16-year-old when they’re having a good time is to pull it up, so our biggest struggle has been to hold him back a bit,” Tania says.
Attending St Paul’s College, Walla, friends and school alike have been a huge support.
“His friends at school have been pretty awesome,” Phil says.
“And Tom does more than he gives himself credit for with watching out for him at school.”
You can’t live life living in fear, Tania says.
And while they’ve watched over him, Noah has only gone from strength to strength.
“His recovery we believe has been miraculous,” Tania says.
“To be able to do what he is now where so many kids with stroke have stayed in hospital for months — we’re pretty blessed.
“There was one mum in Melbourne with a boy the same age as Noah.
“He’s doing really well but they got a different personality back after the stroke, he’s really struggled with a lot of things since.
“We feel so blessed — and he’s still got his wit.”
He’s also been ticking off the milestones of a typical teen.
In year 10 and hoping to become a builder Noah is all set to embark on work experience with a building firm. And he’s certainly not been excused duties on the family farm.
“His work has really picked up at home on the farm,” Phil says.
“With winter he’s been chopping up firewood and he’s started selling it himself.
“At the start I was always beside him, just to keep an eye on him.
“Now he just goes down the paddock by himself and we’ve got every confidence in him now.”
With an occupational therapist’s encouragement to get stuck back in, he’s even got his L Plates.
“We’ve see a real difference in Noah in the past month or so,” Tania says.
“His therapist really encouraged him to get back into the physical stuff and his mindset has been to get stuck in.”
Which even includes schoolwork.
“It’s good to get out of the farm,” Noah says.
“And I’m happy to get stuck into homework now — I guess I’m just motivated to better myself.”
While stroke can happen to anyone, to happen to a healthy teen defies expectation.
But then, so has his resilience.
“My mates have been great,” Noah says.
“They don’t have to say anything, they’re just there and it makes things easier when they’re not asking why you’re going home.
“But I’ve got a bit of independence back, which is different to having someone watching you all the time.
“So I’m thankful for where I am now.
“I could still be in hospital, I might not have survived it. I’m blessed.”
