Hailey Bieber is breaking down one of the scariest moments in her life: when she suffered a stroke in March. The 25-year-old described a “weird sensation” she felt in her right arm while out having breakfast with husband Justin Bieber. Hailey noted how her fingertips felt “numb and weird” and, when Justin asked if she was okay, she “couldn’t speak.”
“The right side of my face started drooping, I couldn’t get a sentence out,” she recalled in a YouTube video titled “telling my story” uploaded on April 27. “Immediately, I thought I was having a stroke.”
Hailey went on to explain how a medic nearby began examining her as an ambulance was called. The right side of her face was “drooping” for 30 seconds as she felt challenged to formulate words. What’s more, her anxiety was “making everything worse.”
“By the time I got to the emergency room, I was pretty much back to normal – [I] could talk, [I] wasn’t having any issues with my face or my arm,” she explained in the video.
After finding out she had a blood clot in her brain that lead to the stroke, she ended up staying overnight at the hospital and went through a series of tests to determine the cause. Hailey noted she scored a 0 on the stroke checklist and was no longer experiencing symptoms, but she underwent a TIA — Transient Ischemic Attack, often referred to as a mini-stroke.
The model shared that the scans showed her having experienced a lack of oxygen to the brain for some time, which was caused by the clot. Her doctors also noted that certain recent events likely contributed to the stroke: Hailey taking birth control without speaking with a doctor and her catching COVID.
After being discharged, Hailey later visited UCLA for a follow-up check-in. There, she was diagnosed with a PFO after having a trans cranial doppler, which she described to be a “more accurate” and “in-depth” ultrasound test. The young model was diagnosed with Grade 5 PFO — the “highest grade,” with a small hole in her heart measuring between 12 and 13 millimeters.
“The biggest thing I feel is I just feel really relieved that we were able to figure everything out, that we were able to get it closed, that I will be able to move on from this really scary situation and just live my life,” she shared, adding how she’s now taking aspirin and blood thinners daily and no longer suffering from any related symptoms.
Hailey ended her video by giving a special shout-out to the doctors who helped save her life and properly diagnose her condition so she could get it under control. We’re happy she’s safe!