Aubrey Plaza was briefly left paralyzed, unable to talk during unexplained stroke at age 20
Aubrey Plaza recalled the “wild” moment when she was briefly paralyzed and unable to speak from a sudden stroke at age 20.
“The craziest thing about it ― and kind the coolest thing about it ― it happened mid-sentence,” the actress, now 40, said Wednesday on SiriusXM’s “The Howard Stern Show,” per Delaware Online.
Plaza explained she had taken a train to Astoria, Queens, in New York City for a lunch date with her friends when the unexplained stroke occurred.
Aubrey Plaza, seen here, opened up about having a stroke at 20 during SiriusXM’s “The Howard Stern Show” on Wednesday.
“I walked into their apartment ― I hadn’t even taken my jacket off ― and it just happened,” she said.
The “Agatha All Along” actress explained that she was completely paralyzed, but only for a minute or so.
“I lost my motor skills really briefly. The freakiest thing was I forgot how to talk,” she explained.
The “White Lotus” star, who is famously known for her sarcastic humor, recalled her friends thinking she was pulling a prank on them during NPR’s “Fresh Air” segment in 2017.
“But then after a couple of minutes, you know, they kept saying, ‘Do you want us to call an ambulance?'” she explained.
“And I was aware enough to shake my head yes. And I kept just shaking my head yes because I knew something was really, really wrong. But I didn’t know what it was, and I couldn’t talk.”
Eventually, the paramedics showed up and were in disbelief Plaza hadn’t taken any illicit drugs because they thought she was too young to have a stroke.
“I hadn’t really put anything into my body that day … except for birth control,” she continued.
The “Parks and Recreation” alum was then taken to a local hospital where she had to wait in the emergency room for two hours.
“I physically looked fine. But I couldn’t talk, and I was confused. I also couldn’t write,” she added, explaining the doctor later determined she had a stroke after examining her.
Plaza spent a few nights in the stroke unit before being transferred to her native state of Delaware to be close to family.
She attended cognitive therapy sessions for a few weeks before returning to NYC for fall classes at New York University.