Treatment of stroke victims with fibrinolysis should take place within a time limit of 3 hours. In spite of comprehensive endeavours to reduce hospital arrival time, too many patients still delay arrival beyond this time limit. This qualitative case study explored the meaning of acute stroke and treatment to four patients with more than 24-hour delayed arrival. The setting of the study was the catchment area of a university hospital. Semi-structured interviews were analysed through the empirical psychological, phenomenological method. An essence was found which was constituted by four themes. The essence of stroke symptoms and treatment was: 'Threatened control of bodily function, autonomy and integrity'. When the patients fell ill they acted as if nothing had happened. They treated their body like a defective device. In encounters with physicians they demanded to be met as a person by a person; otherwise they rejected both the physician and her or his prescriptions. They did not involve their near ones in decision-making. The conclusions were the following: Health care information about how to act in cases of early stroke symptoms may need to imbue people with an understanding of how early treatment of neurological symptoms and preserved control of life are intimately connected. Furthermore emergency care of acute stroke patients might need to take place in an organisation where patients are sure to be met by physicians as a person by a person.