After a fun night out with her girlfriends late last year, Bianca Cooper arrived home with a “killer” headache.

That wasn’t all that unusual, but she soon started to lose feeling on her left side and was unable to walk. She knew something wasn’t right. She called her girlfriend.

“I think I’m having a stroke,” she told her.

Cooper was 29 and as far as she knew as healthy and strong as an axletree.

Her experience, however, is a powerful reminder that strokes are increasingly occurring in young people. In fact, Georgia Hospital Association figures show that roughly the same number of people under 65 as over 65 experienced strokes each year.

Doctors at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta say the trend, while in some respects is surprising, is visible among the patients they treat. The number of young stroke patients aged 15-40 admitted to the Shepherd Center has tripled in the past eight years.

Why? Click here: www.myajc.com/news/lifestyles/health/strokes-increasing-among-adolescents-young-adults/ngNXz/

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Blooper celebrates the Atlanta Brave’s 5-0 win over the New York Mets during a MLB game Wednesday, June 18, 2025 at Truist Park. This year, the venue is a first-time host of the MLB All-Star game. (Daniel Varnado for the AJC)

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Braves first baseman Matt Olson (left) is greeted by Ronald Acuña Jr. after batting during the MLB Home Run Derby as part of the All-Star Game festivities on Monday, July 14, 2025, at Truist Park in Atlanta. (Jason Getz/AJC)

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