Davis college student studying to be doctor survives stroke, brain surgery: “A second chance”

By Ashley Sharp

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    DAVIS, California (KOVR/KMAX) — Chloe Barr was just 18 years old when she suffered a life-changing stroke.

In 2023, while at her family home in Davis on spring break during her freshman year at UC Irvine, Barr says she enjoyed a very normal day with her family. What happened that night, she could have never predicted.

“In the moment, I was thinking I’m just tired or exhausted from finals or maybe I got food poisoning,” said Barr.

After she went to bed that evening, she awoke needing to use the restroom. Instead, she threw up and felt increasingly nauseous, dizzy and itchy. She eventually realized she had lost all use of the left side of her body.

“On top of that, I got this scent of paint fumes that overwhelmed me, like someone just freshly painted my room,” said Barr.

She ran to her parents’ bedroom and into the arms of her father who had also suffered a completely unrelated and non-hereditary stroke in his 30s. He recognized the left side of her face was dropping right away.

“My dad wakes up and is like, ‘oh my gosh, she is having a stroke,’ ” said Barr.

Barr was rushed to the ER and then to UC Davis Medical Center for specialized care.

She learned she suffered a hemorrhagic stroke due to a rare, undiagnosed arteriovenous malformation (AVM) that had ruptured and caused bleeding in her brain.

An AVM is essentially a tangle of blood vessels, which is life-threatening.

“Because if there is too much pressure in the brain, patients can actually pass away from that,” said Dr. Ben Waldau, Barr’s surgeon at UC Davis and a specialist in neurological surgery.

Barr opted to have brain surgery rather than risk the AVM rupturing again.

She says she remembers being in severe pain in the hospital before the operation.

“It felt as if someone were trying to sledgehammer their way out of my head right behind my eye,” said Barr. “Like I had a door wedge in my brain and the door wouldn’t fully closed, but it’s not fully opening.”

After a major surgery, she faced a long road to recovery with a positive attitude.

“My immediate thought was, ‘oh my goodness, I woke up. I am alive,’ ” said Barr. “Life is so short and so fragile. I was given a second chance at doing it over again. There’s no point in letting myself sulk and waste it because there is so much more I want to accomplish.”

After the operation, she thought of her newly started life back at UC Irvine. At first, she started to mourn the normalcy she thought she would have in her freshman year. But she decided quickly that this wouldn’t stop her, and she set her sights on getting back to school as soon as possible.

“I am so much more than this; I want so much more out of life,” said Barr.

After the life-saving procedure, she not only had to recover over the summer of 2023 from the major surgery but also from the stroke she suffered.

She had to relearn how to walk, regain her motor function in her hands and had to retrain her brain to focus for longer periods of time.

After taking off her entire spring quarter of school, Barr went back to UC Irvine in person in late July for its second summer session of classes. For the first session, she attended classes from home in Davis while she was healing.

“I think she is an exceptional young woman who is gonna have a bright future,” said Dr. Waldau.

Since the surgery, Dr. Waldau and Barr have formed a bond. After all, Barr is pre-med at UC Irvine and sees this whole experience as a sign that she should try to become a pediatric neurosurgeon, if possible.

“That’s what I love about my job. The surgery is difficult and rewarding as well. Equally rewarding is to see patients recover over time. That’s really the work that the patient does and not so much that I do. Chloe has made a tremendous recovery,” said Waldau.

Barr says she wants to return to UC Davis Medical Center and shadow Dr. Waldau whenever she has the chance — a full circle moment for the patient who wants to be the physician.

“That would be an absolute dream come true,” said Barr.

In the meantime, Barr says she finally feels comfortable enough to be vulnerable and share her story publicly. It’s taken two years, but surviving this stroke and major surgery has left her feeling stronger than ever before.

“It’s just appreciating the little things in life because although life might shoot you down, the best thing you can do is get back up with a smile,” said Barr. “Another key thing about my recovery was my mom. Every morning, she would tell me just to smile. This was the power of smiling. It’s a simple but powerful act. It reduces stress and fosters positivity.”

For more information on the specialized care Barr received at UC Davis, visit their website.

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