Joel King, 28, was found to have a colloid cyst – a benign growth in the brain – which triggered a stroke and left him with cortical blindness. He now has just 10-15% of his previous vision.
King, a keen hunter and builder by trade, has lost the ability to do everyday tasks such as driving, while also being forced to step back from the work and hobbies he loved.
King’s partner, Abby Holliday, 27, told the Herald his memory of those first critical days remains hazy.
“It was Valentine’s Day that he came home from work with a bit of a headache, and we headed out for the night to go camping, just sort of thinking nothing of it,” she said.
By the next day, the pain had become “pretty gnarly.”
After a sleepless night, they assumed it was a migraine and called Healthline for advice.
But when King’s fingers started tingling, the couple rushed to an urgent care clinic.
Outside, he collapsed and soon suffered a seizure-like episode caused by extreme pressure in his head.
An ambulance took him to hospital, where a CT scan revealed his brain ventricles were dangerously swollen with fluid.
“Your ventricles make the spinal fluid that drains naturally through the body, and they were full and incredibly enlarged,” Holliday told the Herald.
“All they knew at that point is if they don’t do something about it, Joel will die,” Holliday said.
Doctors performed an emergency drainage procedure. The following day, an MRI identified the underlying cause: a colloid cyst had blocked the natural flow of fluid.
Holliday said such cysts often go unnoticed until discovered by accident.
“Joel’s cyst was never known about, and then suddenly he had these symptoms and ended up needing life-saving surgery out of the blue.”
Although the cyst was successfully removed, King’s eyesight failed to return.
Doctors later confirmed he had suffered a stroke during the ordeal, caused by pressure cutting blood flow to the part of the brain that controls vision.
“It’s the first time we found out Joel had a stroke... like six days later,” Holliday said.
“It was so much pressure on the brain it sort of stopped the blood flow to the optical lobe, for long enough to cause some damage.”
King spent several weeks in hospital, including time in Burwood Hospital’s stroke care unit, before being discharged on April 1.
But the prognosis has been tough to accept.
An eye specialist told him he would never drive again, while doctors warned his chances of returning to building were “super slim”.
“Finding the new norm – I still want to be like normal and I want to be able to do everything that everyone else can,” he said.
Holliday said her partner, who once spent almost every spare moment hunting, is determined to adapt.
“We can still do that eventually, but it is going to look very different.”
Friends have rallied around, taking him out for “normal bloke stuff,” while the couple focus on the long road of rehabilitation.
“Your life literally gets completely turned upside down and some things are taken away from you, and you really do have to fight and work to get them back,” Holliday said.
- Funds donated to a Givealittle page for King will go towards specialised rehabilitation through the Laura Fergusson Brain Injury Trust
-Allied Media
