Mother warns of stroke risk after 4-year-old's chickenpox-linked brain attack
A four-year-old who had chickenpox earlier in the year suffered a stroke, prompting her mother to urge parents to watch for atypical symptoms.
Olivia Elliot, a five-year-old from West Lothian, Scotland, experienced a stroke in June 2025 after contracting chickenpox in December 2024. Initial symptoms of vomiting and headache escalated when she could not grip her mother’s hand and fell to one side, leading to emergency care at St. John’s Hospital in Livingston and later transfer to the Royal Hospital for Children in Edinburgh. Medical imaging revealed inflammation of a major neck artery, which specialists attribute to the earlier chickenpox virus.
The stroke left her with left-side paralysis, slurred speech and facial droop, requiring an eight-week hospital stay and extensive physiotherapy. Rebecca, her mother, says prior physiotherapy for mild cerebral palsy helped Olivia’s recovery, and she has founded Olivia’s Steps Foundation to aid families of disabled children. She now advises parents to heed atypical warning signs and follow the BE FAST stroke guidelines.
Why it matters
It highlights that serious strokes can affect very young children and may follow common illnesses like chickenpox.
In this story