Daniela Spanic reflects on stroke 19 years later and her relationship with twin sister Gabriela

Nineteen years after a stroke left her unable to speak normally or walk, Daniela Spanic says she has built a very different life from the one doctors once expected for her.

The actress and model recalled the 2007 incident in an interview with Matilde Obregón. She was 34 and four months pregnant with her daughter, Katalina, when the stroke put her into a coma for a week and a half. When she awoke, she did not even realize that she was pregnant.

Doctors had predicted that Spanic would not communicate or move independently again. She ultimately did both, although she described her recovery as long and demanding. Nearly two decades later, she said she still does not know what triggered the stroke and that many questions remain unanswered.

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We were very simple, many people loved us, and we loved nature.

Spanic now devotes herself especially to painting. Her work reflects the presence of Jesus Christ in her life, her love for her daughter and her interest in the solar system. She said she is passionate about science, although astronomy did not interest her as a child.

Instead, she remembered being absorbed by the landscapes around Ortiz, the Venezuelan town where she grew up with Gabriela, Patricia and Antonio. She recalled leaving home without telling her parents, going to the river to fish and staying outside to watch the stars. “We were very simple, many people loved us, and we loved nature,” she said. Spanic also denied that Gabriela had pushed her aside from the 1992 Miss Venezuela competition for Guárico. “Yes, I was going to participate, but it wasn’t her fault, it was mine; they wanted both of us,” she said.

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Yes, I was going to participate, but it wasn’t her fault, it was mine; they wanted both of us.