By Áine Ryan – Oct26, 2021
Australian actress Melle Stewart is re-learning how to walk and talk following a stroke brought on by her first AstraZeneca jab.
The 40-year-old, who is from Brisbane but lives in London with her actor husband, Ben Lewis, received her first dose of the vaccine on May 24. Two weeks later, she suffered a stroke and was rushed to hospital. Her condition quickly deteriorated, with Stewart losing all movement in the right side of her body and her ability to speak.
One of Stewart’s family members set up a crowdfunding page, titled ‘Help Melle Stewart after life-threatening stroke’, to help with her medical expenses.
“She began having seizures and was taken by ambulance to St George’s Hospital, London, where neurosurgeons battled to save her life, removing a large part of her skull to reduce the pressure in her brain,” they said on the page.
Stewart was diagnosed with Thrombocytopenia Thrombosis syndrome (TTS), a rare side effect that has been linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine. The risk of death due to TTS from receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine is one in a million.
“Unfortunately, Melle had had a severe stroke, caused by two large clots in the main veins of her brain, with the pressure and low platelets causing a secondary bleed in the left frontal lobe.