The night everything changed

 The unforgettable night that turned Kemiyah's world upside down. A night of music and dancing quickly transforms into a medical emergency as she suffers a sudden stroke. With her voice stolen and her body failing, she fights to communicate with her mother—and begins the harrowing journey of survival and resilience that would change her life forever.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
The Night Everything Changed.

(00:01):
.
.
.
.
.
I never would’ve thought a night of me singing and dancing would have ended up like this.
November 21st at 11:31 pm—I remember the time exactly.
I was blasting my favorite playlist, music filling the room, feeling like I was on top of the world.
I’d always loved music—it made me feel free, like the world couldn’t touch me.

(00:25):
Then, everything changed.
I was dancing, feeling that childhood joy, when suddenly my body started to feel weak.
I tried to hold on, tried to fight it, but it was like the music inside me was fading away.
I slid off my bed onto the floor, my body giving up on me.
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t talk.

(00:46):
Panic washed over me like a wave, and I tried to scream for my mom.
Nothing came out—just tears, just silent cries that no one could hear.
I tried to yell again, but it felt like my voice was lost in the darkness.
Then everything went black.
When I opened my eyes, my mom was there.
She was asking me questions—her voice urgent, her face pale.

(01:10):
But I couldn’t answer.
I couldn’t even think straight.
She tried to get me to write or type, but nothing made sense in my mind.
My body wouldn’t listen to me, my brain wouldn’t listen to me.
The only words I could manage were “I can’t.
” The questioning kept coming all night.
Even the next day, my words were stuck somewhere I couldn’t reach.

(01:31):
My mom and grandma took me to the closest hospital.
It felt like it took forever to get seen.
When they finally examined me, they tried to make me talk—but nothing came out.
And then everything went blank again.
The next thing I remember was being moved to a room,
doctors everywhere,voices blending together,fear buzzing in the air.

(01:53):
I didn’t know what they were looking at or what they were talking about.

But I remember one thing clearly (01:57):
another patient,
maybe just a kid like me,was shaking,like they were having a seizure.
I don’t know if it really was, but it looked like it—and it terrified me.
I was alone in that room with all those doctors, and I had never felt more afraid.
I didn’t know it then, but that was just the beginning of the journey that would change everything.