Daylesford-Castlemaine rallies for 16-year-old Kate Lewis

And the 16-year-old from Yandoit was busting to talk - in whatever form it took.

"I want," she said (motioning to an iPad). It was the first thing the stroke survivor said when a breathing tube was removed at the Royal Melbourne Hospital on May 9.

Kate's mother Sharon Treloar said her vibrant, cheeky, punk-music-loving personality was shining through.

"Kate really didn't like that nasal-gastric tube - and managed to pull it out herself," Ms Treloar said.

"She's getting some amazing care. We are so lucky, we really are."\

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Ms Treloar found her teenage daughter having a seizure on March 10.

"There were so many coincidences and things that could have happened," she said.

"I was planning to go to the beach with a friend but didn't go in the end.

"So I was home when all this happened.

"It was 1.30 in the morning and I could hear banging and weird moaning. I thought she was having a nightmare. She'd actually fallen out of bed and onto the floor.

"Looking at her face, I could see the right side was drooping."

Ms Treloar said paramedics arrived within 20 minutes.

"The ambulance people were baffled, because it's really unusual for a person her age to have a stroke," she said.

The partly-paralysed teenager was taken to Grampians Health (Ballarat Base Hospital) for scans, and when the bleed on the brain was discovered, Kate was transferred to Melbourne.

"My husband went with her. She had eight or nine hours of surgery," Ms Treloar said.

"We were just sitting in the canteen - not eating anything - just going out of our minds."

Kate was in an induced coma for four weeks - and intensive care for six.

To make matters worse, her parents developed a virus during this time and isolated in a Melbourne friend's bungalow.

Also during that period, friends in Daylesford rallied with a 'Concert for Kate' - including her punk band from school - with the linked GoFundMe campaign so far raising more than $7000.

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Schoolmates at Castlemaine Secondary College also raised money with an out-of-uniform day.

Ironically, Ms Treloar said the Year 11 was known for being a school uniform rebel.

"I used to keep getting calls about her not being in the proper uniform," she said.

"But it was just Kate's version of the uniform. For example, if she didn't like the official pants, she would wear the same colour in a different style."

Ms Treloar said the money would be set aside to help give Kate experiences she would enjoy - such as going to see her favourite live bands.

She said Kate was a big fan of the Smashing Pumpkins, Amyl and the Sniffers, Pavement, Elliot Smith and feminist rockers Bikini Kill.

"She has very eclectic tastes," Ms Treloar said.

"Kate will have a go at most things.

"She was playing guitar, piano, drums - you name it. Mostly she sang with her dad (a professional musician) or with the band at school."

Ms Treloar said it was unclear how Kate came to have a stroke.

"Brain aneurysm, stroke - they're calling it all sorts of things - but essentially she had a weakness in a blood vessel and it led to a bleed on the brain," she said.

"It's possible it was always there.

"She had complained of a small headache the night before - but we thought nothing of it. People get headaches all the time."

Ms Treloar said Kate was recognising people - including a boyfriend who was visiting every weekend without fail.

"Yep, he's a keeper," she said.

Ms Treloar said damage to the left side of Kate's brain had affected her right (dominant) hand, right leg and language ability.

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"Kate can't tap out messages just yet but she can still scroll through the phone," Ms Treloar said.

"She's become very good at rolling her eyes - and she is learning new ways to communicate.

"I don't know how much of what she reads she understands at the moment.

"She's been doing drawings with her fingers on the iPad - and can also lift her arm over her head.

"Apart from a bit of shakiness she has a full range of movement with her right hand.

"But it'll be a long road ahead with rehab."

As her daughter's condition improves, Ms Treloar is returning to work as an aged care worker one day a week in Daylesford.

The family is also investigating home modifications including railings and a possible renovation for the bathroom which has a shower-over-bath arrangement.

They have barely been home in two months - with neighbours holding the fort.

"Friends in Yandoit have been amazing. The neighbours have organised a roster to take care of the house and animals," Ms Treloar said.

"They held a working bee to install a water tank we'd bought - and my garden has never looked better.

"A friend has also been staying in the house and looking after the animals.

"The support we have received from friends has been great.

"It's hard to be sad when you are surrounded by so many amazing people."

She said the crisis had also brought her closer to older daughter Lizzie, who lives near the Royal Melbourne.

"Her and Kate are best friends. She had been great," Ms Treloar said.

"My older daughter has really stepped up - she brought us food when we were in isolation and has done a lot to help.

"I also really want to give a shout out to all the people in the hospitals - as well as the ambulance staff.

"Oh my God, they saved her life."

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