Healthy Boston runner Patrick Mascoli suffers sudden stroke at 27 as doctors discover possible cause
As stroke rates continue to rise among young adults, one Boston man is sharing his experience of a life-threatening event at just 27 years old.Patrick Mascoli, an engineer and fitness enthusiast, was regularly running 40 miles a week at the time of his medical emergency.Beyond a history of migraines, there were no obvious symptoms or warning signs, he shared with Fox News Digital.On a Sunday in July 2024, Mascoli went for a 10-mile run and headed to the gym for a lifting session.
As he was changing alone in the locker room, something felt suddenly wrong.“It just felt like a bomb went off in my head,” he shared with Fox News Digital.“The right side of my brain just felt like a severe burning sensation, a lot of pain.
And that came out of nowhere.”At first, Mascoli assumed it was related to blood pressure-related fainting episodes he’d had when he was younger, but then his vision grew blurrier and the pain intensified.“This wasn’t something I had ever experienced before,” he said.When Mascoli tried to stand up and step forward, his leg moved to the right instead, sending him into the wall.“No matter what I was telling my body to do, it just wasn’t working,” he said.“My legs just went in completely opposite directions of the way that I wanted them to.
And my vision was a complete swirling mess.”Mascoli managed to text his sister before collapsing again.As his sister drove to the gym, he lay on the floor, repeatedly vomiting, unable to control his legs and struggling to see.Stroke briefly crossed his mind, he said, but his age and fitness level made him dismiss it.“I thought a stroke was something that happens to someone who is elderly or has other pre-existing conditions,” Mascoli said.
“And in my mind, I’m like, ‘I don’t fit that.’”When his sister arrived, she found Mascoli on the bathroom floor of the gym, drenched in sweat, and called 911.First responders initially suspected dehydration because Mascoli was young, appeare...