Aubrey Plaza’s Shocking Stroke Story: How a Life-Altering Incident Changed Her Perspective On Life

Aubrey Plaza is best known for her role as April Ludgate in ‘Parks and Recreation,’ where her deadpan humor won her widespread recognition and fame. She has also starred in notable projects like ‘Legion,’ ‘Ingrid Goes West,’ and ‘The White Lotus’, showing us just how talented she is in both dramatic and comedy roles.

Currently, Plaza is the star of the MCU show ‘Agatha All Along’ and her latest movie, ‘Megalopolis’ was released on September 27, 2024, to a mixed reception.

Watching Plaza on screen, it’s easy to forget that her career almost never happened, as the actress suffered from a severe medical condition while she was 20 years old that easily went undiagnosed due to her age.

As it turns out the actress suffered a stroke when she was visiting her friend. The stroke happened mid-sentence and she was immediately aware that something was wrong as she lost the ability to talk.

Yes. I was 20, and I was living in Queens, in Astoria. And I was going to my friend’s apartment for lunch. It’s really kind of a very typical I think stroke story where it just happened mid-sentence out of nowhere. I don’t think I had even taken my jacket off. I walked into the apartment. I was telling my two friends about a Hilary Duff concert that I had taken my younger sister to the night before.

And then I kind of blacked out for a second. And then I remember there was just like a really loud kind of sound happening. And I brought my hands to my throat, and I was kind of making like an ah (ph) sound because I couldn’t talk because the blood clot was in my language center of my brain.

So I had expressive aphasia instantly, which means that if you’re talking to me, I could understand what you’re saying in my mind and understand how to respond. But I couldn’t actually get it out. I couldn’t actually talk.

The condition that Plaza found herself in is nothing new to stroke survivors. Aphasia, also known as dysphasia, is a condition where a person struggles to understand or produce language due to damage to certain brain areas, often caused by strokes or head injuries.

Luckily, for Plaza the condition was temporary.

So my friends were kind of – I think they thought I was – yeah, that I was making a joke or that I was just – I don’t know. I was always doing something stupid, so – but then after a couple of minutes, you know, they kept saying, you know, like, do you want us to call an ambulance, or – and I was aware enough to shake my head yes.

And just – I kept just shaking my head yes because I knew something was really, really wrong. But I didn’t know what it was, and I couldn’t talk.

Plaza also recounted her experience with a stroke that was initially misdiagnosed by paramedics, who thought she was dehydrated or on drugs due to her young age and appearance.

After being taken to the hospital, doctors realized she had suffered a stroke when she struggled to follow simple commands, leading to her transfer to a stroke unit; she emphasized that while her recovery was swift due to her youth, she still experiences residual effects and occasional transient ischemic attacks (TIAs).

So what happened was the paramedics came, and they also – I think because I was so young – didn’t assume that I had had a stroke. They were thinking that I was dehydrated. And I really think they thought I was on drugs because they kept asking me if I’d taken drugs, and I hadn’t.

I had a cognitive therapy specialist work with me. And my writing came back, and I started talking again really quickly. I think I was lucky. I was so young that my brain was really – healed itself really fast.

So I was talking after a couple of days. But I still have – there’s still certain, you know, things that only I would notice that are kind of residual from – left over from that incident. And since then, I’ve had some minor – they call them TIAs, which are transient ischemic attacks, that are tiny little strokes. So something’s up with my blood, but I don’t know what it is.

The actress said that, while terrifying, the stroke has subtly influenced her perspective on life. She acknowledges that although she didn’t make major changes, she has become more aware of life’s fragility and tries to focus on the bigger picture, not sweating the small stuff.

This mindset drives her to stay busy and make the most of her time, even if she may not fully understand the long-term effects of the experience yet.

I think unconsciously, yeah. I mean it was terrifying. It was really scary. And I didn’t change anything dramatically, you know, in my life. But I guess it sounds cheesy to say, but I think I always am aware of how precious life is, and I try to remember that every day. And I’m sure that has something to do with my approach and my attitude about, you know, about everything.

Source: NPR

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!