A woman who was left unable to speak or walk after suffering a stroke at 33 has “had a bit of a glow up” and is “excited to be back” to her normal life – including being back on the dating scene. Melissa Clayton, now 34, had a stroke in hospital after a seizure at home in January 2024.
She spent the next three months in hospital being fed through a tube, during which time she had surgery to remove a bone from the top of her spine to relieve pressure on her brain, and had a shunt – a thin, hollow tube – implanted into her brain. Now, however, she is preparing to return to work as a PR account director full time, after gradually increasing her hours since early February 2025, and is confidently back on the dating scene – an endeavour that is providing her with some surprising connections.
In January 2024, at 33, Melissa was “thriving” in her high-flying PR job, working with major clients like McDonald’s. She lived in a shared house in Hackney Wick, north-east London, and was in the process of moving into her own flat in Old Street, central London.
One evening after work, Melissa felt “a bit sick and feverish” and decided to go to bed early. She began feeling faint and had a seizure in bed. Her flatmate found her and called an ambulance.
Melissa’s only memory from that night is a paramedic helping her to sit up. While she was an inpatient at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, Melissa had a stroke, and her mother recalled how the surgeon said she was seriously unwell and they were not sure if she would make a full recovery.
During her stay she contracted Covid, had two chest infections, underwent surgery to remove a bone from the top of her spine to relieve brain pressure from blood and swelling, and had a shunt implanted into her brain. Her facial muscles became so tight that she struggled to speak and swallow and had to be tube-fed.
She also lost movement in her right arm and right leg, making independence and walking challenging. Speaking to PA Real Life in August 2025, Melissa says she has made leaps and bounds down the road of recovery but has faced some unexpected challenges, too.
“Work has actually been way harder than I thought, mainly because you’re learning what’s different, it takes you longer to process information,” Melissa said. “Also, because my stroke affected my emotions, I can be quite reactive rather than responding to someone.”
“Like anyone going back to work, if it’s maternity leave or whatever, it does take time to get back into the swing of it,” she said, though she added her employer has been very supportive of the adjustments she needs in her work life.
“The thing is, I’m naturally impatient and very determined and also, I’m a perfectionist. I’m a Virgo! I have been quite hard on myself, whereas my coach at work will be like: ‘You really need to slow down’. So yes, I’m excited to be back – I won’t know until I try it!”
Melissa is making plenty of progress in her personal life, too. She lives alone in London – albeit with her therapy dog, Maya, a Pomeranian mix – but is preparing for a move to Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, pending the completion of a house purchase.
She is also back on the dating scene, and while when she first began dating again after her stroke she found it to be on slightly unstable ground, she is now feeling “more confident” in her search for love. While previously Melissa had included the fact she is a stroke survivor on her dating app profiles, she has since decided to remove that detail, as it “isn’t just who I am”.
“I think also, with my speech getting a bit better, people won’t notice as much,” she added. “I also feel like probably what I’m looking for is a bit more serious than it was back then, and therefore I just want to get to know someone better before I tell them about what I’ve gone through.”
Through dating, Melissa has also made some unexpected platonic connections – including a friend of a potential date who has also had a stroke. “I matched with one person who instantly said ‘I need to put you in touch with my friend’. And he’d had a stroke as well,” she said.
“We ended up just chatting. We met for a coffee. I think it was about a month ago, a month or two ago. I think it’s really highlighted to me how strokes really affect other people.”
In late July 2025, Melissa had her feeding tube – which was inserted when she struggled with chewing following the stroke – removed, which she says was “one thing that just made me feel really clinical, just a daily reminder that I had it”.
She has also lost some unwanted weight, changed her hair, and is “feeling much better” in herself. “I feel like I’ve had a bit of a glow up,” she said.
Above all, the harrowing experience has taught Melissa not to take life for granted. She has been going to the theatre – something she always loved – and trying out new restaurants with friends, which she says are all things she would d take for granted before her stroke.
“I don’t really take anything too seriously, because nothing is worse than what I’ve gone through,” she said. “But equally, I also don’t have any patience for being mucked around in terms of dating. I don’t need anyone. I choose to want someone.
“I like being independent. I think I really cherish my independence more than anything now, and the fact that I can do what I want, when I want, and not have to be under any kind of concern or worry.”
