Ashley B.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
By: Ashley B.

Survivor

I graduated college and started my first job in the "real world." I was working in a major city when my stroke hit. Unbeknownst to me, I had a staph infection in my heart that caused the stroke. Luckily, penicillin four times a day took me out of the realm of needing open-heart surgery.

I took part in 14 months of physical and cognitive rehabilitation at my parent's house. When I moved back to my city, I was lucky enough to still be employed, and my employers were kind enough to work with me. It has been three years since the stroke, and I'm so thankful to be able to live independently and to have the support of family and friends. Prior to my experience, I thought that strokes only happened to older adults.