My Story

On May 15th 2003 I was playing a basketball game. I was in seventh grade. At some point during the game, I had a sudden (what I thought at the time was a headache). Someone got fouled. I could barely keep by eyes open the pain was so intense. For the first time in my sports career I called for a sub. I sat on the bench sweating and blinking hard. Nothing I did made the throbbing pain subside. I lay down next to the bench. Maybe I am just tired. I had no grasp of how dire the situation was at the time. After all, I am thirteen and bad things do not happen to children. The word stroke was so far from my mind.

My coach asks where I am. That’s when they find me curled up beside the bench. That’s when they realize something is wrong. I grew up in the rural state of Vermont, and cell service was not the best then. I imagine there are still sections of the state without a single bar of coverage, but regardless. The errors do not end there. It turns out the only land line is behind a locked door.

In total it takes four hours for me to get to the hospital. I end up passing out in the ambulance.

I hope that by telling my story and sharing the obstacles in my own life it can give hope to those who have suffered from stroke. If it can shed some light on the human spirit that is the goal for this blog.

Thank you for reading