Aubrey Plaza Says Stroke She Had at 20 Led to ‘Brief’ Paralysis
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Aubrey Plaza, 40, opened up about having a stroke at 20 years old.
It left her temporarily paralyzed and unable to talk.
“It was wild,” she said.
Aubrey Plaza opened up about having a stroke at 20 years old—an experience that is still shrouded in mystery two decades later. The 40-year-old former Parks and Rec star recounted the event on a September 11 episode of The Howard Stern Show.
“It was wild,” she said. “The craziest thing about it—and kind of the coolest thing about it—it happened mid-sentence.” She had just arrived at some friends’ apartment for lunch after taking the train there. “I walked into their apartment―I hadn’t even taken my jacket off―and it just happened. That’s when I was paralyzed, but only really for a minute or something. I lost my motor skills really briefly. The freakiest thing was I forgot how to talk.”
Plaza shared more details about the health scare with NPR’s Fresh Air in 2017. Her friends called the paramedics, she said, and thought for sure she was under the influence. “They kept asking me if I’d taken drugs, and I hadn’t. I hadn’t really put anything into my body that day except for birth control,” she said.
After arriving at the hospital, doctors determined her episode to be a stroke when she was asked to put her right hand on her left knee. “I couldn’t do it,” she recalled. “I was confused about right and left. And I think that’s when everyone realized: ‘Oh, like, she had a stroke.’”
There are two types of strokes, according to the National Heart, Blood, and Lung Institute (NHBLI): ischemic strokes and hemorrhagic strokes. Ischemic strokes occur due to a blockage or blood clot in the brain, which cuts off blood supply. Hemorrhagic strokes are caused by sudden brain bleeding.
According to the NHBLI, about 87% of strokes are ischemic, and it appears that was the case for Plaza, because she told Fresh Air that, since her stroke, she’s had “some minor—they call them TIAs, which are transient ischemic attacks, that are tiny little strokes.” With TIAs, the blockage breaks up before any brain damage takes place.
As of right now, a different ailment has Plaza preoccupied. In July, the White Lotus star tore her ACL playing basketball ahead of the WNBA All-Star game. She was spotted at the premiere of her new movie, My Old Ass, using a cane, and after All-Star Weekend, she recapped her bounce-back from the injury. “Thank you @wnba for hosting such an amazing weekend and taking such good care of me and my busted knee,” she wrote on Instagram. “Such a great game. See you in Paris (no).”
According to the Cleveland Clinic, it can take up to nine months to recover from a torn ACL. We’re wishing Plaza the best!
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