READ: Woman reveals life saving knowledge that saved her husband from a deadly stroke

When her husband suffered a stroke in 2014, Jodie Niven decided to deal with the matter privately.

However, after noticing a number of people sharing an article about the ‘new sign of a stroke’ on her Facebook feed, she felt compelled to share her own firsthand knowledge.

And there’s no denying that reading what she has to say could prove life-saving.

She wrote:

When my hard working, frequent traveling husband arrived home from work one Friday evening:

He didn't mention that he was home later than expected because his pinky and ring finger on his left hand just kept hitting the wrong damn keys, and he had to keep re-typing his emails.

He didn't mention that he'd stumbled for no apparent reason when walking to the bus stop from work.

He didn't mention that the reason he knocked on the door at home to get in was that he had fumbled and dropped the keys a number of times while trying to open the door.

He did mention that he felt like he was getting the flu.

He did mention that he felt like he was having a hyper sensory experience when walking down the dark nature reserve pathway on his way home from the bus stop, with feelings of a heightened sense of hearing.

He didn't have a headache.

He initially seemed, to me, to be getting the 'man flu', and nothing more.

He almost made the worst decision possible, in suggesting he would go to bed early and sleep, after we had gotten the kids to bed, but thankfully (!) is such a workaholic he decided to send one more email.

*About 2 hrs after arriving home from work (still not having mentioned the 'weird, mis-typing fingers, stumbling on the way to the bus stop, or dropping the keys at the door), he stood up from the dining table where he was working, to go upstairs to bed. *

*His foot turned in an ever so slightly strange way, and he did the slightest stumble, but I saw it out of the corner of my eye. *

Thankfully:

I did stop and ask him 'what was that about, are you ok?' He told me his foot had just gone to sleep.

I did stop him and tell him 'wait a minute, that was unusual', and get him to walk across the lounge room. Everything seemed fine. But he had stumbled, when there was nothing to stumble on.

I did make him walk over and sit on the lounge. He walked normally. He looked normal. He was speaking normally.

I did get him to put both his arms straight out in front of him. He held them perfectly level, and then, ever so slightly, the left hand dropped down lower, only a few centimetres. My subconscious said 'stroke'. My brain said 'couldn't be'. I told him to put his arms down, then lift them and do it again. Again, he initially held his arms level, then the left hand dropped and curled ever so slightly.

I did get him to hold his arms up straight above his head. Initially both arms stayed up, then his left arm pulled slightly down, and his hand turned slightly.

I did stop him from going to bed. I made him stay put, sitting down.

*I did fight every part of my no nonsense 'it's nothing, just get on with life' upbringing and attitude and I did call an ambulance. As disbelieving as I was, I realised that it might be (probably was) a stroke, and every second mattered. *

She quickly phoned for an ambulance and, in the time that it took her to dial the number and speak to an operator, her husband’s condition had deteriorated.

But it was only when the ambulance arrived that he began to show the “classic signs of a stroke”, including a ‘drooping’ face, trouble speaking, and significant loss of limb movement.

Thankfully for Jodie, doctors were able to help her husband. After time spent in Intensive Care, and the Stroke Ward, he learnt to walk and speak again, and is now back at work.

But not all stroke victims are as lucky as he is.

Jodie warns: “Children, teenagers, and people in their twenties and thirties can also be, and have been, changed forever by stroke.

“If you notice the slightest 'strange' incident, or physical behaviour in yourself, or in others, including an unusual trip, or slight change in coordination of fingers, stop.

“Stop for a minute and ask them to smile, to poke their tongue out, to hold their arms out in front of them, and above their head.

“Ask them to repeat a sentence. Name five things and ask them to repeat them back to you. If everything seems ok DON'T let them go to bed, keep an eye out for small changes.

“If there are signs of stroke, no matter how minor, CALL AN AMBULANCE.

“Recognise early signs and save your life or someone else’s.”

The post has been shared over 104,126 times on Facebook.

Find out more about stroke symptoms on the NHS website now.