Jan 16, 2026
3 min read
Shakira Gorman, 17, suffered a stroke and is hospitalized
'Periodic pain' after symptoms leave teenager paralyzed, unable to speak: 'unexpected grief'
Shakira Gorman, 17, suffered a spinal cord stroke and remains hospitalized
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Shakira Gorman began to have severe bleeding and back pain that she reportedly thought her period was starting
The 17-year-old boy was later admitted to the hospital after he had trouble breathing and lost consciousness in his arms.
She suffered a rare stroke in her spine and doctors are not sure what her future holds
A "strong and healthy" teenager is fighting for his life after what he thought was a "period pain" turned out to be a brain injury.
Shakira Gorman, 17, from England, bled to death two days before Christmas at her boyfriend's house.Southwest News Service reports that at first she thought it was bad timing, brushed it off and went about her day.
"It all happened so fast," said her sister-in-law Chloe, 30."The only symptom she had was a little pain in her shoulders and back, she thought maybe it was back pain or maybe she was on her period."
However, Gorman later began having trouble breathing and lost feeling in his hands and arms.He was taken to Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital and immediately put on a ventilator to help him breathe.
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After a day of testing and his deteriorating health, doctors finally determined that Gorman had suffered a spinal cord stroke.
Spinal cord strokes, which are rare and account for less than 1 percent of all strokes, occur when there is a blood clot in the spine, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
People who experience a stroke often experience sudden and severe neck or back pain, muscle weakness, and in severe cases, paralysis.They may die or cause permanent disability.
Unfortunately, Gorman was one of those extreme cases.He quickly ended up in the hospital's intensive care unit, paralyzed and unable to speak.
"He is in the High Dependency Critical Care Unit and needs a breathing tube and many other life-saving measures," his family said on the GoFundMe page."He is unable to speak and needs to read lips, but that can be difficult because of the medical equipment. He has lost movement in both arms and needs therapy to get his muscles back."
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Doctors gave Gorman blood transfusions and monitored her condition.
Her older sister, 29, told Chelsea news agency: "We don't know what the future holds. At the moment we're just taking each day as it comes."
"My parents feel empty, devastated and they're still in shock - it's so unexpected," she added."In the meantime the hospital could not say what the recovery would look like."
With his recovery unknown, Gorman's family shared an update on the "unexpected tragedy" on January 10, revealing that the teenager is currently on the waiting list to be transferred to Stoke Mandeville Hospital, where he can be treated by spine specialists.
"We all look forward to his recovery ❤️," they said.
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