Please help Colleen Woo recover from a catastrophic stroke

How often does a healthy 24 year-old lady with her full life ahead of her suffer a sudden, catastrophic stroke? The answer is, almost never. But this is exactly what happened to my friend’s daughter, Colleen on March 1, 2024.

I’m asking for your help to support Colleen, the most loving, spicy, nature-loving young woman who suffered two back-to-back strokes and concomitant brain damage. This damage left Colleen in a coma for a couple of weeks. But she is now in a semi-awake state and in intense rehabilitation where she is re-learning how to stand and ambulate with the hopes that she will return to eating, speaking, and walking again someday. Colleen has been in the ICU and hospital for over three months now and will soon be discharged. While the family is excited to have their daughter out of the hospital, Colleen will need a lot of care, including 24-hour nursing, rehabilitation, a handicap van, out-of-pocket medical expenses, mental health services, and more. We’re raising money to help out. If you are unable to contribute monetarily, please consider sharing this post with friends and family on social media. Please read on for the full story. Thank you!

On March 1st, Colleen suffered her first stroke and seemed to regain consciousness within 72 hours. She was caught ditching her hospital room to hang with her family in the hospital lobby, seen cracking jokes, and even encouraging her worried sister to go forward with her trip to Europe even though Colleen would need interventional brain surgery within a few days. On March 7th, Colleen underwent surgery and just when everything seemed to be going well, her second stroke occurred. The doctors delivered the devastating news that Colleen was in a coma; they weren’t sure whether Colleen would survive or wake up, and if she did, to expect severe brain damage. Over that first month, Colleen and her family fought tenaciously — her family in advocating for her, and Colleen in overcoming what doctors thought was impossible.

Within the first month of Colleen’s second stroke, Colleen received another brain surgery — the insertion of a shunt that would help her swollen brain drain cerebrospinal fluid. This surgery was successful. After a few weeks of being unable to breathe without ventilator support, Colleen started breathing on her own. Most excitingly, Colleen started moving her limbs voluntarily and showed signs of wakefulness. She demonstrated understanding of speech and her condition and responded to simple commands. Colleen has shown emotion when friends and family visit her; she smiles when friends come in, sheds tears when they leave, and has made facial expressions that give us all hope that her spirit is ever-present and putting up a dogged fight!

Despite this progress, Colleen has recently suffered setbacks in the hospital and is entirely dependent on others to care for her basic human needs — from feeding via her feeding tube, going to the bathroom, all movement, showers, medicines, being turned every 2 hours, and more. She is still unable to speak and her body has been less responsive recently. The medical team is worried she is suffering from depression. The road ahead will be long and Colleen and her parents, John and Megan, and sister, Allison, will need to persevere through many physical and emotional challenges unlike most of us will ever experience nor dare imagine. And this will require enormous financial resources which will likely exceed our $200,000 goal.

But here’s the good news. Doctors are optimistic that with intense neurorehabilitation, Colleen could make a remarkable recovery. As an avid water polo player, the most kind and generous friend/family member, Colleen is strong and driven. She has grit and a sassy way about her that endears her to so many. I’m determined to support her. Will you join me in being a part of her journey to recovery?

Thank you! Your support in any amount means the world!