‘I remember thinking that I was too young to have a stroke – but I was wrong’

“I remember thinking that I was too young to have a stroke – but I was wrong,” she said. So, my message now is simple but urgent: don’t ignore high blood pressure. While she never imagined she might have a stroke, she didn’t realise that her high blood pressure might need monitoring. “I had no idea how dangerous my blood pressure really was,” Ms Arnopp added. Juliet Bouverie, chief executive of the Stroke Association, warned that as the nation’s health declines, the risk of stroke rises.