Hailey Baldwin opened up a little more about her terrifying mini-stroke, as she marked the milestone of surviving it one year later. The model and wife of Justin Bieber took to her Instagram on Friday, March 10 to share a post about the “life changing event,” which resulted in her PFO (patent foramen ovale) diagnosis. “Can’t believe it’s been 1 year since I suffered a mini stroke that led to my PFO diagnosis,” Hailey wrote, adding, “Given that it’s the 1 year mark from such a life changing event, I wanted to share all the information I’ve learned about PFO and share resources to donate.”
In the accompanying 12-minute video, Hailey went on to share the 411 on the incident and the PFO diagnosis, which is a “hole in the heart that didn’t close after birth,” according to the Mayo Clinic, on her IG Stories. Hailey recalled her arm feeling numb during the mini-stroke, her husband Justin asking if she was ok and then the pop star calling 911. At the hospital, upon her doctor’s recommendation, Hailey had the PFO closed and has since fully recovered. “The biggest thing I feel is I just feel really relieved that we were able to figure everything out, that we were able to get it closed, that I will be able to move on from this really scary situation and just live my life,” she concluded.
Two months ago, Hailey got candid about the hospitalization on The Run-Through with Vogue podcast, saying she has “PTSD” from it. Hailey called the experience “very jarring,” before adding, “It was definitely the scariest thing I’ve ever gone through.”
“I struggled with a lot of anxiety after,” she continued. “I struggled with a little bit of PTSD [Post Traumatic Stress Disorder] of just like the fear of maybe it was gonna happen again. 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.”
After news first broke of Hailey’s health scare back in March, she took to her Instagram to give fans the 411 of what went down. “On Thursday morning, I was sitting at breakfast with my husband when I started having stroke like symptoms and was taken to the hospital,” she wrote. “They found I had suffered a very small blood clot to my brain, which caused a small lack of oxygen, but my body had passed it on its own and I recovered completely within a few hours.” She continued: “Although this was definitely one of the scariest moments I’ve ever been through, I’m home now and doing well, and I’m so grateful and thankful to all the amazing doctors and nurses who took care of me! Thank you to everyone who has reached out with well wishes and concern, and for all the support and love.”
Now, even months later, Hailey gets “triggered” when revisiting Palm Springs, the city where the incident occurred. “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,” she explained on the podcast. “But I think the bright side for me is that it led me to find out I had this hole in my heart.”