Now I Can... cater to my customers.

General Manager Michael Thomas has been a fixture at Jackson’s Broad Street Baking Company for over 19 years. But when he ignored the realities of living with type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, he nearly lost the ability to serve his loyal customers.

“I was stubborn,” Thomas said. “I didn’t like the side effects of my medication. So instead of talking to my doctor, I just stopped taking it. Then one night it all came to a head—my speech started slurring, and I was dizzy and couldn’t hold myself up.”

Now I Can... reclaim my career.

Faith Martin was 44 years old and teaching six fitness classes a week when she had two strokes linked to a bout of sepsis.

“I’d never been sick and out of nowhere it happened,” she said. “They didn’t think I was going to make it.”

Martin survived, but it took two years before she felt like herself again. For much of that time, she relied on Methodist Rehabilitation Center’s Stroke Recovery Program to guide her comeback.

‘Completely unexpected’: Stroke survivors’ stories illustrate the life-saving importance of stroke awareness

Though Derrick Freeman and Mike Bossetta have often crossed paths in the therapy gym at Methodist Rehabilitation Center’s stroke recovery program over the past month, neither may have realized just how much they have in common.

Both have a background in law enforcement. The 64-year-old Bossetta worked as a detective for the New Orleans Police department for 27 years, while the 39-year-old Freeman is a sergeant for the Adams County Sheriff’s Department.

And both suffered strokes despite being relatively fit and healthy.

'Thank God I'm still here': Stroke at age 35 is wake-up call for Brandon man De'Mon McClinton

If he’d been by himself at Winner’s Circle Park in Flowood, De’Mon McClinton might have overlooked the odd sensation on his right side.

But since he was alone with his two young sons, he headed home. Now, he hates to think what might have happened if he hadn’t played it safe on July 22, 2019.

Just hours later, what started as a “funny feeling” escalated to a full-blown stroke.

“It could have gone so wrong,” he said. “My right side was affected, from my face to my right leg.”

“People don’t think about how important speech is”: Brookhaven man cherishes ability to talk and eat after overcoming voice/swallowing disorders at Methodist Rehab

Alone, paralyzed and unable to utter a word.

Dezron Wesley of Brookhaven awoke to that reality after a third stroke sent him to a Jackson hospital on April 8.

Because of COVID-19, his wife, LaTonya Wesley, couldn’t be by his side during the hospitalization.

And the 48-year-old said it was frightening to be isolated and incommunicado. “I was at someone’s mercy,” he said.

“He told me how scary it was to wake up and not be able to talk or say what he needed,” said Taylor Miller, his speech therapist while at Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson.

‘They had me working’: Through inpatient and outpatient therapy at MRC, 28-year-old Trey Carroll gets back to job he loves after a rare type of stroke

Trey Carroll didn’t expect “recover from a stroke” to be on his to-do list before turning 30.

“I worked out all the time, I ate really clean and I don’t think I was that stressed out,” the Madison resident said. “I thought of myself as a healthy person, with a strong heart and low blood pressure.”

Faster and better: Methodist Orthotics & Prosthetics offers free screenings for Bioness L300 Go, an advanced neuroprosthetic device for controlling foot drop

It’s been over seven years since Stevelyn Robinson was paralyzed in a school bus crash, and he hasn’t stopped fighting. He continues to progress through regular physical therapy at Methodist Outpatient Therapy in Ridgeland.

With the help of a walker, the Winona native walked across the stage at his 2016 graduation from Holmes Community College. Now a student at the University of Mississippi, he is working hard so he can do the same again.

Stroke

Proven Stroke Expertise

Since 1975, Methodist Rehabilitation Center has helped thousands of stroke patients reach the highest possible level of independence. We see more stroke patients than any inpatient rehab facility in Mississippi, including 545 in 2023.

Subscribe to Stroke