Bio

Hometown:	Snow Hill, North Carolina
Employer:	Retired/Di f f e r e n t l y - a b l e d

In December of 1990, I had a massive hemorrhagic brainstem stroke. My stroke was caused by a rupture or weakness in a blood vessel in my brainstem. During the following four months, I had several CAT-scans and MRI tests, but neither showed a stroke had occurred, until the end of that period.
I fell into a coma for a couple of months after my stroke, and I refer to this period as a peaceful time. When I awakened from my coma, my speech was impaired and my left arm and leg were paralyzed. However bad that felt to me, I also was aware of the emotional havoc within me as I began to struggle with stroke’s disability.
My life during the previous 20 years was full of hard work as an athlete and as a teacher. I lived and played hard. I had a zest for everything I set out to accomplish. During my post-stroke recovery, I experienced fear that I had lost the ability to live a life of meaning. I had a sense all though rehabilitation therapies that my view of self was tainted with anger and self-pity. However, at the same time, I realized I had to go through stroke recovery in stages. I saw myself as Bob Smith, a stroke survivor whose life was being defined by a stroke. At the same time, I knew myself to be a man whose zest for life had not ended.
During this period of searching, I had an experience one morning as I awakened. It was a deep awareness and confidence that my life was going to be defined by me and not by the stroke. When I told my minister of my newfound hope, he told me it was like a baptism. That is, I went under as stroke victim, and came up as stroke victor. A new life was just beginning, and I was ready for the opportunities to live, again.
Since my new life began, I have met some wonderful people from various backgrounds. Stroke’s impact opened up prospects to new friendships that would not have formed otherwise. The devastation I experienced transformed into renewed peace and, with that, an experience of inward growth and fortitude.