The 23-year-old Price Tag singer worried that she was going to be left paralysed and it was that fear which spurred her on to become a success.
She told Glamour magazine, 'I'd just been signed by Sony, had got back from America and I was sat in the hospital thinking, 'Woah, hold up a minute. Why did I have a stroke?'
'It made me realise that, whoever you are, wherever you're from, however many times a day you run or whatever you do eat or don't eat... s**t happens, and you get ill.
'When you're sitting there thinking, 'Will I walk again? Will I sing again? Will my right side go back to normal?' you think, 'I haven't got time to waste now.' And that's when I kicked into gear and didn't take any s**t.'