The year was 1982....I was at my nieces first birthday party.  My two-month old daughter was being held by her great-grandmother.  While I was taking a picture of my daughter and great-grandmother with our new camera the symptoms of a stroke unfolded before my eyes.  The one side of her body began to sag and as she dropped her ice tea she looked at me with the most terrifying eyes as she was very scared as to what was happening to her and that she could drop my daughter.  I tossed our new camera as she handed my daughter to me with the arm that was not being affected and I then helped her onto the living room carpet from the chair she was sitting.  The other family members in the room were confused by my actions toward our loved one as they didn't understand what was going on.  I kept telling them to call for an ambulance as she was having a stroke.  It seemed like an eternity for me to get that communication through to them as I was also trying to keep my daughter and great-grandmother calm and assure them help was on its way.  I finally had to help the others find the number to call for help as they were not trained or prepared to help someone who needed it.  After this event in my life I made sure all family and friends had this number posted by the phone in case of an emergency.  I also encouraged them to take a CPR class to learn the chain of survival.  They also learned  how to recognize the signs of a stroke even though the medications had not been developed learning those skills prepared them for the next event as this was not the first or last family member to have a stroke.

Do YOU know to do if someone shows signs of a stroke? 

For more information go to:  http://www.americanheart.org