Meet David — Stroke at age 6
David had an ischemic stroke at age 6.5 years. That beautiful Saturday in October of 2012 started out like many others, with David playing in his weekly soccer game. He had played a great game and came off the field holding his head, saying it really hurt. His face started to immediately droop, he couldn’t respond to our questions, and his limbs began to droop. He was having a stroke.
None of the other parents at the soccer game knew the signs of stroke and many didn’t think a stroke was possible in a child so young. I had recently read something on the internet about the signs of stroke and called 911. After a fast ride to the nearest children’s hospital, an MRI confirmed that David had suffered a massive ischemic stroke in his left middle cerebral artery. His frontal lobe was severely damaged, he was fully paralyzed on the right side of his body and he couldn’t find the words to speak. His prognosis was unknown.
It was determined that David’s ischemic stroke was caused by a clot that developed at the sight of dissection in his carotid artery. Doctors asked us if he had recently been injured while playing sports or in gym class. He had been very roughly and unexpectedly tackled by an older child the week before the stroke while playing catch with a football in our front yard. He had hit his head at the time, but had only a slight bruise over his left eye and did not show signs of concussion. We did not know that a dissection was possible from being tackled. The clot that had formed at the dissection broke off while David was playing soccer and lodged in a narrow artery in his frontal lobe. It is not known why the artery was narrowed.
David spent 26 days in the hospital; 6 of those were in the PICU and 24 hours on a ventilator. He then transferred to an outpatient neuro rehabilitation program, where he started intensive physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, recreational therapy, art therapy and psychology. It’s been 3 1/2 years since his stroke. He has relearned to walk, to talk, to read, and is back playing sports. He does not have any use of his right hand or any fine motor control on the right side of his body. He has occasional aphasia and some acquired learning issues. But none of that has stopped him. He has defied all odds and continues to work hard and to accept his new normal. His stroke is something that happened to him, but it will not define him. He is a survivor.
