For the James family, Christmas morning was joyous, as parents Caleb and Ashley James opened presents with their two-year-old boy. In the blink of eye, Ashley was admitted to the Billings Clinic ER, where she spent the next 16 days. "I felt like my head was starting to kind of pound, and was getting kind of clogged and foggy. As soon as we hit (my mom's yard), I went down to my knees... I just kept telling my mom, 'There's something wrong, there's something wrong," James said Tuesday. James was on the cusp of her 35th birthday when she suffered from a type of stroke known as a subarachnoid hemorrhage, according to Billings Clinic neurosurgeon Dr. Shervin Dashti. A subarachnoid hemorrhage is a type of stroke, typically caused by a brain aneurysm, or in James' case, a ruptured blood vessel. Dashti says this type of stroke can happen to any age group in any health condition, and he recommends a healthy lifestyle and diet to prevent a brain aneurysm. On Christmas Day, the cavity between James' brain and skull filled with blood, causing irritation to the brain and surrounding blood vessels, causing an excruciating headache. "We had to do an emergency procedure to drill a hole in her skull, and pass a catheter (a couple inches) deep into the brain, to the cavity that normally contains spinal fluid, to basically drain the spinal fluid out," Dashti said. While James stayed under close observation in the ICU for 14 days, she says her biggest struggle was missing her son, husband and mother. "It was awful. You know, talking to her through the phone, it just wasn't the same," said James' mom, Tami Hinand. Hinand was the first to recognize something was unusual. She immediately called emergency services for the headache, which likely saved James' life and prevented long-term injury to her brain. Dashti says the best way to prevent a hemorrhage from becoming deadly is to recognize the symptoms, which are typically an onset severe headache. "Recognizing the symptoms of something like this happening (is the best prevention). 'Cuz, unless you come to a place like Billings Clinic, where we can help you, the person can die. Time is of the essence," he said. Although James was released from the hospital on Wednesday, her road to recovery is still in the distance. "There was so many unanswered questions. What's our mobility going to be like? What's her brain function? You know, I knew it wasn't gone," Hinand said. Although James will now experience months of recovery and doctor's visits, the family believes it was an otherwise happy ending to a life-threatening injury. "Just stay strong. You know, there's days that it feels like it's going to kick your butt, but you just got to stay strong and push yourself through it," James said. The James family said they would like to thank the Joliet community for setting up a meal train and GoFundMe as they get through this tough time, as well as all the staff at Billings Clinic.