Hailey Bieber experienced a health scare in March of 2022 when it was reported she had suffered a blood clot in her brain that caused stroke-like symptoms. During a podcast appearance on Thursday, the 26-year-old model opened up more about her experience and its long-lasting effects.
During her hospitalization for the blood clot, Bieber was diagnosed with Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO). PFO is a condition where a hole between the left and right atria of the heart fails to close naturally upon birth.
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A complication that those with PFO can suffer is a stroke. Bieber has since undergone a procedure to close her PFO.
While her recovery from the incident has been going smoothly, she emphasized that it was still a very “jarring” experience. She stated, “It was definitely the scariest thing I’ve ever gone through.”
Meanwhile, the scare has had long-lasting effects on her, as she struggles with flashbacks and memories of the health scare. For example, she has found returning to the location of the health scare to be “triggering” for her.
Bieber was in Palm Springs when she suffered her stroke-like symptoms. As a result, she revealed that she struggles each time she returns to the area.
Hailey Bieber discussed suffering from PTSD
During her appearance on The Run-Through with Vogue, she described what it has been like to return to Palm Springs. She stated, “Even the first couple of times coming back here after was a little bit of a strange triggering kind of feeling for me because you just remember exactly how everything happened in that moment.”
Bieber also opened up about other symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that she has experienced since the incident. In addition to triggers, she has dealt with heightened anxiety.
Following the jarring experienced, she developed a fear of the same thing happening again. Meanwhile, she was so stricken by the incident that the thought of going through it again was terrifying.
She said, “It was just a feeling that I was, like, I never want to experience that ever again. I mean, it was so terrifying, so jarring, so discombobulating in every single way that you could imagine.”
However, she has slowly been coming to terms with the incident and is now able to talk about it in hopes of helping others. In the months immediately following the health scare, she found she couldn’t talk about or revisit the feelings she had while going through that experience.
In addition to now finding it easier to talk about the experience, she confirmed she is also slowly but steadily shaking off the anxiety about her health in the future and learning to simply enjoy life again.
Hailey Bieber’s health scare explained
Bieber’s health scare began on March 10, 2022, while in Palm Springs. She and her husband, Justin Bieber, were enjoying breakfast together that morning when an odd sensation came over her.
After feeling some numbness in her fingertips, Justin asked her if she was “ok.” However, when she tried to respond, she found that she couldn’t speak, and Justin saw the right side of her face drooping.
In a video posted on April 27, 2022, Bieber explained that both she and Justin believed she was having a stroke. 911 was called, but by the time she arrived at the hospital in an ambulance, her facial droop had cleared, and her speech had returned.
It was then discovered that she had suffered a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) which occurs when blood flow to the brain is temporarily blocked, causing a “mini-stroke.” While the blood flow was restored naturally, the doctors continued doing testing to find the cause.
During the testing, her PFO was discovered. She explained that she had a stage 5 PFO, which meant it was a very large hole she had in her heart.
It was then confirmed that her PFO had contributed to her blood clot and she subsequently underwent a procedure to close it. The procedure was a success and Bieber has fully recovered since then, though she continues dealing with the emotional side effects.
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