With modern smartphones and social media, the art of the selfie is something we all know well. While taking a selfie on our phones can be a fun pass time, sometimes a simple selfie of yourself can be invaluable in saving your life. For a single mother from Enniscorthy, Ireland; her morning routine was disrupted when something strange happened. In a moment of desperation, she managed to take a selfie that would drastically change her day and her life.
Her Morning Routine
Early morning on the 23rd of August of 2019, Farnan woke up and started her morning routine. She tried to follow this routine as much as she could since it helped her stay in control of her life and care for her young son Oscar.
Oscar was excited to start elementary school, and Farnan was incredibly proud of him. She helped Oscar get ready like every morning and then started getting ready herself so they could start their day.
Making Sure They Were Both Ready
Just before Farnan left the house, she decided to take a selfie of herself. Something urged her to take that picture of herself, so she decided to do it. She was almost running late, so it was time to go.
Because she was a single mom, Farnan had a lot of help from her mother and father, Helen and Frank. Their help meant the world to her, allowing her to have the time to work and take care of herself. And it also was great for Oscar’s bonding with his grandparents. They got to spend a lot of time together, which was something very important for the family.
Taking A Selfie
Because Farnan had to arrive at work much earlier than Oscar needed to be dropped off, she planned to drop him off at his grandparents’ house, and they would take him to school later in the morning.
Farnan worked as a Mental Health Unit Multi-Tasker, which meant she needed to be on her A-game for most of the day. For both Farnan and her parents, this routine seemed to work perfectly well for a while, and that morning shouldn’t be different. But as soon as Farnan took her selfie, she completely changed the course of her morning, her week, and the following years.
The Power Of Technology
Technology has really come a long way, allowing people to have access to the most amazing things. While the use of cellphones and the result that social media has had in people’s lives could be debatable, there are certainly some pretty awesome things that have come from it. For example, the simple act of being able to snap a selfie anywhere and anytime is incredible.
Back in the days, we would have to walk around with a huge camera if we wanted to capture the moment. But today, we are lucky enough to have a built-in camera into our phones, so we can literally do it as we please.
They Became Concerned
While her parents were waiting for her to arrive with her son Oscar that morning, Farnan failed to arrive at the time they had agreed.
Like any parent, they became concerned and called her continuously. Since they found no response, her father decided to show up at her place.
Finding Her Unconscious
Frank wasn’t ready to see what he was about to discover. When he arrived at his daughter’s house, he went in and couldn’t hear any noise coming from the house. He called for Farnan but had no response.
Suddenly, he entered her bedroom and found her completely unconscious on the floor. Oscar was still asleep and had no idea what was happening to his mom. Farnan’s brother, who had also been on the way to her house, found them there and was also caught off guard.
Putting The Pieces Together
They both instantly started attempting to understand what could have happened. Sean Farnan, her brother, began piecing together every detail he could find prior to what had happened.
He started looking through her phone, trying to find what was the last activity she had done there. While scrolling through it, he found something very important. Before it hit 8:00 am that morning, his sister had sent a text message to one of her good friends.
The Selfie
In addition to the text message, Farnan had taken a selfie of herself at around 8:21 am, just a couple of minutes before her father arrived at the house. The image showed Farnan had one of her eyes completely shut, while her other eye was open, but looking tired and redish.
Both Oscar and Farnan’s father freaked out and understood that something bad was definitely happening. After Farnan was taken rushing to the hospital, Oscar showed the important picture to the doctor for evidence.
She Had A Stroke
The doctors ran a number of tests, wondering if whatever she was suffering from was potentially life-threatening. What if she hadn’t been found shortly after by her father and her brother?
Statistics show that only a very small percentage of people make it through something so severe, especially because to some people, it happens while they’re alone. Time is an essential factor when someone collapses like this, and it can literally save a life.
An Important Piece Of Evidence
Going through her phone was a brilliant idea that Oscar had had. His quick thinking allowed doctors to analyze the whole picture, possibly preventing a more serious result. The hospital’s medical staff were able to piece together the course of events, mapping out the best way they should treat the 28-year-old mother.
Farnan’s doctor wondered what had happened to her as he waiting for the test results to come back. His first reaction was to medicate her with anti-clotting medication, as he had an idea of what the problem could be. But what is he was wrong?
Not Out Of The Woods
Farnan had to have surgery, and the doctors were careful to explain everything that could happen to her but all she and her family could do was hope for the best.
But everything went well, and the operation had gone through successfully. And they finally knew what had happened to her.
What Happened Was Scary
The doctors sat down with the family and explained what had happened, but it was hard for the family to hear and certainly not something they expected from their healthy daughter.
When she regained consciousness, the Irish mom started trying to make sense of what had happened to her. She couldn’t remember taking the selfie, or anything else she had done that morning. All she remembered was waking up with a pain in her head.
A Healthy Future Ahead
Her right eye vision has been a struggle since then, forcing her to wear a patch. She also needs a walking stick to get around and is due to have heart surgery soon. Despite it all, she has had tons of support from her family and her community. She was just grateful to finally know what was wrong with her.
When the results came back, they understood that Farnan had in fact suffered from a stroke. The surgery was called “angio-seal procedure,” which had the purpose of stopping and taking care of the internal bleeding that was caused by her stroke.
Contraceptive Patch
Unbelievably enough, Farnan had a hole in her heart, that in addition to the fact that she wore a contraceptive patch, resulted in a reaction that caused a stroke.
She is thankful for her son Oscar, who encourages her every day to keep going. She now has the continued support of her parents, and because her job did not pay her for her sick leave, she has opened a gofund me account to help her in the future.
A Selfie At Work
Nowadays, we are able to easily share our moments and updates with friends and family members just by posting it on our social media accounts. Selfies, in particular, are a favorite to a lot of people across the globe. Sadly though, there are also many downsides with this new technology.
For example, a sad story emerged around February 2016, when a woman called Nadine Rash took a selfie at work. Nadine lived in Kent, England, and worked at an optometrist’s office. She worked as a retinal screener at the time she took the unpopular selfie.
The Eye Was Giving Problems
Since Rash knew what she was doing, she made the decision to use one of the retinal cameras instead of the usual camera on herself. She was curious to see what her eyes really looked like, so she took the picture.
Her left eye was giving her some problems at that time, so she thought that maybe she could find something helpful with the selfie. Once she took it, she couldn’t believe the results in front of her eyes. For Farnan, the case was about to get much more severe.
She Knew Her Job
Rash’s selfie was about to potentially save her whole life. As she analyzed the photograph, she noticed that something in her optic disc wasn’t looking normal. The disc was really swollen, with inflamed hemorrhages, and was fairly undefined.
In her experience, this wasn’t great. She had analyzed many eyes before, but it was her job, so she was used to finding unusual things. But because this time the eyes belonged to her, she was terrified.
A Life-Threatening Disease
Rash already had a rough idea of what could be happening. She self-diagnosed herself and realized that with her optic nerves swollen that way, it could only be papilledema. Papilledema is a serious disease that, if not found, can potentially be life-threatening.
As for Dash, she rushed to a colleague of hers who also specialized in the field right away to confirm whether or not she was right. He looked at it and confirmed the diagnosis and its severity.
Taking Care Of Herself
It was clear that her diagnosis was papilledema. They also understood though that one of the best things that can happen in a situation like this is to find it as soon as possible.
They agreed that periodic examinations are important because they can pick up this kind of thing. Even though Rash’s selfie wasn’t an exam, because of their knowledge, it was enough to make conclusions and to understand that she needed to take care of herself.
Going To The Hospital
Rash could be lucky enough to have found it before it became something even more serious, which is what she hoped for on her way to the hospital. When she got to the hospital, she started doing tests right away.
The comprehensive tests would hopefully be able to show clearly what the root and cause of the problem was, and what was causing the swelling. After examining her, Rash felt relieved with the explanation they gave her.
Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension
The doctors ruled out right away the possibility of her having a brain tumor or a brain bleed, which was one of the worst possible diagnosis. Still, what she had was pretty serious, and she needed to take care of it right away.
The condition she had was called idiopathic intracranial hypertension, the name given to pressure that was built up around the brain. This is common in situations like a stroke, a really severe head injury, or brain access.
Spending The Evening There
Besides affecting the body and particularly the eyes in different ways, it can also last for a long time. It’s a persistent disease that can come suddenly and stay for a while, becoming chronic.
If doctors examine the patient and don’t manage to figure out the root of the cause, they simply diagnose it as idiopathic I.H. Due to everything that was happening, and Rash had to spend the evening in the hospital, planning to return home the next day.
It All Came From A Selfie
It was incredible for everyone that everything had come from a simple selfie. Doctors agreed that because of how early the disease was detected, Rash was extremely lucky. They say that the eyes are the window to our soul, but the thing is that the eyes can also be the window to our whole body.
We just need to look closer and pay attention. Lucky for Rash, her story had a happy ending, and she was completely fine after treatment.
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