What was supposed to be the start of a new chapter for Anna and Connor Lasco turned into a medical emergency on their wedding day.
The couple from Lancaster County said Anna started feeling dizzy while preparing for their Sept. 5 wedding in Rochester, New York. His symptoms quickly worsened.
“I had this loud ringing in my left ear,” Anna Lasco said. “And suddenly my leg, the left leg in particular, gave out from under me.”
She said her dizziness became severe and her speech was affected.
“It looked like I was drunk,” Anna Lasco said. “People actually asked me if I was drunk.”
Connor Lasco said he knew something was wrong when he saw her.
“When I got there and got called up there…His eyes were really wide,” Connor Lasco said. “And that’s really when I felt like something wasn’t right.”
The couple gets married anyway, then goes to the hospital
The couple still got married, but Connor carried Anna down the aisle because she could no longer walk reliably. After the ceremony, they went straight to the hospital.
Doctors diagnosed Anna with a left vertebral artery dissection, a tear in an artery that supplies blood to the brain. She was then taken by helicopter to another hospital, where doctors said she had suffered a stroke.
A doctor explains a rare disease
Dr. Faisal Aziz, chief of vascular surgery at Penn State Health, said a dissection is essentially a tear inside a blood vessel.
He said vertebral artery dissections can be difficult to recognize because symptoms may start with dizziness, nonspecific headaches, lightheadedness or a feeling of imbalance.
“Usually at first they may start with dizziness, non-specific headaches in the back, dizziness or a feeling of imbalance,” Aziz said. “If symptoms get worse, they can lead to double vision, blurred vision, sometimes even vision loss in severe cases. And they can progress to slurred speech or difficulty swallowing.”
Aziz said the condition is rare, affecting about one to two people in 100,000 each year, but it can occur in young adults.
He explained that dissections can follow obvious injuries, such as a car accident, fall or sporting contact, but they can also occur after a sudden or violent movement of the neck – and sometimes without a clear cause.
“We’ve seen it with roller coasters or sometimes with yoga, extreme stretching of the neck during exercise, sometimes even with severe coughing or vomiting — and sometimes without any clear cause,” Aziz said.
He said people should not ignore sudden symptoms such as dizziness, lightheadedness or eye symptoms.
“It’s fortunate that these accidents or neck trauma don’t happen that often,” Aziz said. “But the bottom line is that when they occur and symptoms (dizziness, vertigo, eye symptoms) appear, it should not be ignored.”
Read information about vertebral artery dissections here from the Cleveland Clinic.
Recovery and rehabilitation
Doctors say many dissections heal with medical care and monitoring.
“Natural history is actually very good,” Aziz said. “Most of them heal pretty quickly and most symptoms go away on their own.”
Doctors emphasize that dizziness or headaches do not necessarily mean arterial dissection. But sudden or severe symptoms – especially vision changes, weakness, facial drooping, difficulty speaking or walking – should be treated urgently. They say to call 911 rather than going to the hospital yourself.
Anna spent 18 days in hospital and is now recovering at home. She said even simple movements now require concentration.
“It takes a lot of mental strength,” Anna Lasco said. “It’s like I’m trying to walk.”
Connor Lasco said the couple is getting better each day.
“We’re going to get better,” Connor Lasco said. “This is the journey we are on together.”
To support the Lascos, visit their GoFundMe page here.
Gn Health
