Portrait: Samuel

A little bit about Samuel

My wife, kids and I did not know if I would ever function or walk normally again. I was in my late 50s, active and healthy (I am a tennis player), ate the right things and stayed away from all the vices, so this was an unwanted surprise.

Recognising the early signs of a stroke

My wife Barbara and I had lunch together, as I was working remotely. Upon returning to my home office, I began to experience the symptoms of a stroke (“FAST”) and yelled to Barbara. As any good spouse would do, she suggested that I lie down, but the “T” in “FAST” stands for “time” — in which you must call 911.

My family has a history of hypertension, and as a curious guy, I randomly googled two weeks before my episode, asking what to do when you are experiencing a stroke. That’s when I learned of this acronym:

F = Face weakness

A = Arm weakness

S = Speech problems

T = Time to call an ambulance

Barbara called the Westport (CT) EMS and they rushed over in seven minutes. They took me to Norwalk Hospital, where I was administered the protein tPA (tissue plasminogen activator), saving my life.

Recovering from my stroke

After a week in the ICU, and after I was transferred to the stroke recovery unit at St. Vincent’s Medical Center, I immediately had two specific goals in my recovery: I wanted to walk again with my family to my daughter’s high school graduation, which was in June 2023, and I wanted to return to the tennis court.

I knew this would require me to have a positive attitude, a lot of determination and to work hard.  I also knew that I needed to trust the doctors, therapists and nurses who were there to help me, so I became a great listener and followed their every command.

Most importantly, I had the full support and encouragement of my lovely wife Barbara, and my beautiful kids, Jamie and Lucy — who spent many hours with me every day in the hospital (this was during the holiday season, as I spent Christmas and New Years Day there) — and my immediate family and friends.

The day after Christmas, I had a brain bleed and was rushed to the ICU once again, but somehow, I made a miraculous recovery and was back to the stroke unit. I was released on my original discharge date exactly one month after my stroke.

Finding inspiration

As I fretted one night and was seeking motivation, I googled which celebrities and prominent figures had overcome strokes and severe brain injuries. I came across Emilia Clarke’s piece in the New Yorker, “A Battle for My Life.” If Emilia could overcome what happened to her, then so could I. Her story was a revelation and inspiration for me to get better.

Her story resonated with me because she openly revealed her condition and fears. Barbara and I have found that “stroke” can be a taboo subject, unlike other debilitating conditions. But you soon learn that many people have had a stroke or know someone recovering from a stroke. I found a new community of support, and we all have Emilia to thank for this.

Learnings from the recovery journey

I spent the next several months working with a local rehabilitation facility, going there every weekday and spending the rest of my time performing their exercises and therapies.

In my stroke recovery journey, I learned several key lessons:

1. Determination, hard work and a positive attitude are critical to recovery. This is beyond the specific medications that will be prescribed.
2. Set specific and realistic goals in your recovery. It is OK to be incremental in setting these goals and timeframes, particularly if you are setting audacious goals.
3. Listen to and respect not only your doctors, but especially your therapists and nurses. Follow their directions and leadership, and keep in mind that many of them have seen everything, so they likely know more than you.
4. Establishing real trust and relationships with your therapists and nurses can lead to creative solutions to meet your goals. In my case, when they learned that I am a tennis player, they staged a tennis mini-clinic — even when I couldn’t walk on my own yet.
5. Volunteer to be a “guinea pig” for medical technologies when needed and appropriate. In my case, the therapists felt that I was a great candidate for “electric stimulation”, “Bioness Integrated Therapy System” (BITS), and other neurological games.
6. Walking, walking and more walking. I already walked a lot before my stroke and have since returned to it to heal physically and mentally. You cannot imagine how much walking will do to unlock creativity, innovation and great ideas...and also keep you calm, cool and collected.
7. Mental health awareness and therapy is critical to recovery. Unfortunately, it is deficient in many hospitals. I am fortunate that we had the means to enlist a behavioral and cognitive expert, but I realize others don’t have the resources to do this.
8. It is imperative to identify a designated partner/cheerleader (whether a spouse, family member or close friend) initially to help you repeat the movements to create the neuroplasticity required to improve. Your partner/cheerleader should also practice speech therapy, cognitive exercises and physical therapy with you. I was fortunate to have Barbara as my designated cheerleader, particularly when I couldn’t move my leg, but needed repetition to build the neuroplasticity.

Where I am now

My doctors and therapists at Hartford HealthCare, Yale Medical Center, Concorde Medical Group, and Rehabilitation Associates have all declared that I have made a full recovery.

I went back to work in my full-time role, a very challenging job on Wall Street. My daughter graduated from high school and is attending a top-tier university (the same one as my son). I got back on the tennis court exactly six months after my episode and have been improving since.

I am planting the seeds for my “second life” with Barbara and my kids! I am an incredibly lucky person who worked very hard for my new life. I’m not going to squander it.

Samuel’s story provides a lot of insight on all the crucial pieces of the puzzle that need to come together to move forward with recovery. He found inspiration in reading Emilia’s story, but his own story is likely to also provide inspiration to others who have had a similar brain injury.

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