{"id":104022,"date":"2019-10-26T10:49:21","date_gmt":"2019-10-26T14:49:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=104022"},"modified":"2024-04-16T16:52:37","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T20:52:37","slug":"helping-young-stroke-survivors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/helping-young-stroke-survivors\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping Young Stroke Survivors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ray Forsythe refers to the moment on Easter morning, 2015, when the challenges of surviving a stroke first truly dawned on him, as \u201cthe incident.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot in my wildest dreams did I imagine someone like me being called \u2018a stroke survivor.\u2019\u201d
\n\u2014 Former UCF offensive lineman Ray Forsythe<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Two months earlier, the former UCF offensive lineman, who played for the Knights from 1993-94, had suffered a major stroke at the age of 41 despite being, as he says, \u201cin the best shape of my life.\u201d A lengthy stay in rehab had finally allowed him to return home a day before Easter, and he was eager to get on with his daily life \u2014 which meant on Sunday he\u2019d prepare dinner.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when the 6-foot-5, 320-pound Forsythe, whose hands once manhandled massive defenders, realized he could no longer handle a knife. Every time he attempted to carve the turkey, the knife fell to the floor.<\/p>\n

Forsythe, who majored in what is now called interdisciplinary studies at UCF<\/a>, walked out of the kitchen, away from his wife and six children. He sat in the bedroom wondering what more he\u2019d have to do to be an active dad, a breadwinning husband, to simply be himself<\/em> again.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot in my wildest dreams did I imagine someone like me being called \u2018a stroke survivor,\u2019 \u201d Forsythe says.<\/p>\n

Thousands of people who have yet to hit midlife are wrestling with those same thoughts. While the vast majority of strokes in the United States occur in people age 65 and older, according to a study in JAMA Neurology<\/em>, from 2003 to 2012, there was an increase of more than 30,000 patients hospitalized for strokes in people younger than 65 \u2014 accounting for an increase of roughly 30 percent. A number of factors can explain a portion of the increase, including population growth and changes to how diagnoses are classified, but the fact remains that people are having \u2014 and surviving \u2014 strokes younger than ever before.<\/p>\n

And while certain factors can come into play, such as lifestyle, pollution, genetics and better diagnoses, there is no real profile of a stroke victim. It happens to toddlers and teenagers. To athletes and artists. It can happen to anyone, anywhere. For Forsythe, it happened at the mall with his family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d been cautious about the foods I ate,\u201d he says. \u201cI was going to the gym every day, spending time on the treadmill. As big as I am, my body fat was only 10 percent. The idea that I\u2019d have a stroke \u2026 it\u2019s almost five years later and it still doesn\u2019t sound right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI refuse to be stagnant, even with the lack of resources available for young stroke survivors,\u201d Forsythe says.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Forsythe admits he\u2019s blessed just to wake up each day and say: \u201cGood morning.\u201d His wife, Doreen, is a nurse and made sure he received immediate care following the stroke, including the two months at Brooks Rehabilitation in Jacksonville. But then he lost his job. The family had to sell their cars and downsize their home. His wife had to figure out how to get Forsythe to therapy, the kids to their activities, and herself to work.<\/p>\n

All the things you never think about because it can\u2019t happen to someone like me<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have one speed now \u2014 slow<\/em>,\u201d Forsythe says, referring to his speech as well as to the legs that once ran the 40-yard-dash in 4.7 seconds. \u201cBut I refuse to be stagnant, even with the lack of resources available for young stroke survivors.\u201d<\/p>\n

And so he has become an expert, not so much on why he had a stroke when he did, but on recovery. He started a support group. He attends seminars. He listens to stories from young stroke survivors trying to raise families and hold jobs, such as fellow Knight Rachel Groves \u201905 \u201910MS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n