Lancing mum, 24, suffers sudden stroke as devastated family appeal for financial support

On the night of Saturday, May 6, Alysha Cholas was getting ready for bed when she suddenly collapsed and became unresponsive.

Alysha – who has an eight-month-old daughter, named Sunnie, with fiancé, Cody Pearce, was rushed to the hospital where a blood clot was found in her brain.

"The medical team started her on medication to reduce it, however quickly realized that it needed to be removed,” fundraising organiser, Stacey Stockburger, wrote on gofundme.com.

"They transferred her to a neurological centre where they performed two surgeries. The first was to clear the clot and the doctor was able to confirm that she suffered a massive stroke.

"She was showing signs of getting better, but then several hours after, began to degrade. They found that her brain was swelling and there was internal bleeding; all symptoms of the stroke.

"In order to eliminate further brain damage they removed a part of her skull plate. After the second surgery, she has been coming out of sedation very slowly.

"The doctors suspect that she will not have much use of the right side of her body as well as lose the ability to speak. This is going to require a long road of rehab and home care for Aly while she finds her way.”

Alysha, who moved to the UK from the USA to start a family, met Cody whilst working at Disney Land.

Cody, 24, said: “I was on holiday in Florida and met her in the queue line at Disney when she was working there.

“She’s outgoing, smart, ambitious. She would do anything for anyone. She’s one of the nicest people you could meet.

“She moved over to live with me here after Covid. We’ve been together nearly four years. We were looking at wedding venues before this happened. We were going to get married at the end of the year.

“I love her more than anything. She’s my everything. I’d say every word you can think of how you might feel about someone.”

Alysha’s parents flew to the UK to join Cody and Sunnie and have been able to sit with their daughter each day.

"She has already started showing signs of remembering her loved ones and continues to make small wins each day on her journey to recovery,” the GoFundMe page read.

"Aly is an amazing woman. She is a fighter. Her eyes and laughter light up every room she enters. Her and Cody have already been through so much with the loss of their first daughter, Aurora.

"She has been so courageous in their dream of starting a family and is the best mother.

“Our family loves them all so much and we are hopeful that all of these hurdles will be overcome with time. We will be doing all we can to support the three of them as Aly heals but appreciate all the help others have offered.

"We are so thankful for the support system we have. Thank you to those who have reached out already.”

The fundraising page has a target of £50,000 – with more than £32,200 donated already.

“The support gives us comfort,” Cody said. “Alysha is so young so it opens your eyes that this can happen to people of younger ages.

“There were no warning signs. She was talking and then straight into a stroke.

“She’s had two operations and she’s stable at the minute. It’s just a waiting game at the moment.

"The doctors have been amazing. They saved her life.”

On how he coping with the traumatic experience, Cody said: “I’m getting there. I’m trying to be strong for my little girl.”

The Tesco worker added: “The fundraising is for recovery process in the future. My partner won’t be able to look after our little girl on her own own be able to look after herself. I’ll potentially be out of work looking after both of them.”

If you would like to donate, please visit www.gofundme.com/f/qawa4h-support-alys-healing-journey.

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