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On a Monday in July 2022, Claudia Davis DiDomenico returned to the workplace for the first time in a decade. She’d taken a fundraising job at a private school in Missoula, Montana.

She and her husband, Tarik, had moved there from Los Angeles only a year earlier. They’d been in search of what felt like a calmer, safer environment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Claudia had worked in film production, but she put her career on hold to be “the best possible mom ever.”

With their three kids – son Kai, 12, and daughters Alaia, 9, and Bela, 7 – having reached school age, Claudia was ready to earn a paycheck again. She was also anxious about the change.

That morning, she first drove Kai and Alaia, along with two friends, to summer camp.

During her workday, Claudia ate only a small container of vanilla yogurt. Before picking the kids up, she squeezed in a workout – 45 minutes on the treadmill. She grabbed a protein shake as she left the job.

Claudia had always exercised, especially martial arts. She regularly practiced jujitsu and taekwondo. Naturally slim, she didn’t always think about her diet. Tarik would often remind her to eat, take her vitamins and drink enough water.

She headed to the camp, then loaded up the kids and their bikes. They were all hot, tired, and ready to get home.

As she drove, Claudia started feeling lightheaded and tingly. She felt detached from her surroundings.

“You need to pull over,” she repeated to herself.

She noticed a pizzeria and pulled into the parking lot. She handed her phone and a credit card to Kai.

“Take this and get everyone some food,” she told him.

Claudia followed the kids into the restaurant, sat at a table and leaned her head against the window. She felt depleted, and her vision was blurry.

“Kai, can you look at my eyes?” she said. “Do they look OK?”

He studied his mother’s eyes.

“Yeah, they’re fine,” he said.

He went to get her some water.

“I’m just going to sleep for a little bit,” she said, putting her head down.

Kai called his father but couldn’t reach him, so he called a friend’s mother. Just as they arrived, a customer walked in – she happened to be a nurse. She noticed the children standing around Claudia and the friend rushing toward her, so the customer went to see if they needed help.

She found Claudia unresponsive. The nurse called 911 and got Claudia to the floor. Her eyes rolled back, and she was drooling. Paramedics arrived and took Claudia to the hospital.

Tarik finally got Kai’s message and raced to the hospital. The friend’s mother took the children.

At the hospital, Tarik found Claudia unable to move her left side. Her face was in a fixed grimace, “like the Joker,” he thought.

“We think she had a stroke, but we’re not sure,” a doctor said.

Suddenly Claudia bolted upright.

“Where are the kids?” she said.

She laid back down and went to sleep.

When Claudia woke up again, she could slightly move her left side. Her face had returned to normal, but she had no short-term memory.

After an MRI, doctors diagnosed Claudia, then 40, with a bilateral thalamic stroke. It affects both sides of the thalamus, a part of the brain that plays a role in consciousness and memory. Doctors didn’t know what caused it. There was no expert on hand because the city’s only neurologist had recently moved away.

Doctors discharged Claudia after four days.

“She needs inpatient rehab, but there’s a six-week waiting list,” the doctor told Tarik. Then he added that the first six weeks of rehab were the most important.

Not wanting to send Claudia to another city or state, Tarik was able to hire private physical, occupational and cognitive therapists to come to their home. Claudia’s mother came from Brazil, where Claudia grew up, to help take care of the children.

Battling severe sensory sensitivity, Claudia stayed in the bedroom, which Tarik kept dark, quiet and bare. She slept most of the time. Her short-term memory improved but remained inconsistent. At the same time, she started having vivid flashbacks of childhood traumas that would leave her screaming.

The children were allowed to visit their mother only briefly, one at a time. Tarik put a video monitor in her room so they could at least see her.

Tarik felt hopeless and distraught until a physical therapist reassured him that Claudia could recover.

“She can’t walk and do a lot now, but Claudia is strong,” the therapist told him. “I know she can do this.”

“My heart was breaking every single day, all day long,” Tarik said. “But hearing that was like a lifeline.”

The family finally found a neurologist who could help. Because he was in Los Angeles, he first treated Claudia by video.

The neurologist thought Claudia’s stroke was related to silent migraines she’d had for years. Those are migraines without a headache, but with flashing lights or spots and tingling and numbness in the face and hands.

He prescribed a migraine blocker, an injection she’s received every month since the stroke.

For several months, Claudia felt depressed and angry. She would lash out at everyone. But she stuck with her therapies.

Three months after the stroke, she walked without a walker. By June 2023, she had regained her mobility and started driving again.

Even now, Claudia still has sensory sensitivity and avoids crowds. To ground herself, she does breathing exercises daily and regularly hikes and runs. Her short-term memory hasn’t returned to what it was, so she writes a lot of notes to herself.

The neurologist called her recovery “miraculous” and credited Claudia’s drive and determination.

Claudia also transformed her thinking about motherhood.

“In my mind, it was selfish to take care of myself,” she said. “The stroke was literally a smackdown with myself. I realized I needed to pay attention to my body, not only to heal, but always.”

She’s also changed her parenting strategy.

“I never said no to the kids before,” she said. “Now I set boundaries. Of course it’s better for all of us.”

Tarik said that Claudia is like a different person “in all the right ways.”

“She’s so much more aware of herself and more emotionally regulated,” he said. “She’s also helped me focus on what matters most in life.”

Claudia was fortunate that a nurse found her and started the chain of survival. If you saw someone having common stroke symptoms, could you recognize them? Learn the signs with B.E. F.A.S.T.: sudden Balance loss, Eye or vision changes, Face drooping, Arm weakness or Speech difficulty. If you notice any of these, it’s Time to call 911. Take a moment today and explore these signs at .

Stories From the Heart chronicles the inspiring journeys of heart disease and stroke survivors, caregivers and advocates.