STROKE ONWARD WEBSITE
STROKE ACROSS AMERICA
ST. LOUIS EVENT PAGE
St. Louis, Mo. – More than 800,000 people in the United States and 13.7 million people worldwide experience a stroke every year. Every 40 seconds someone has a stroke, yet only 38 percent of people know all the signs and what to do.
Nearly all of the guidance, information and resources provided post-stroke surrounds only the physical aspect of recovery. The organization, Stroke Onward, aims to create a stroke system of care that provides whole-person care, including emotional care.
Stroke Onward's Stroke Across America is a cross-country bike journey aimed at bringing knowledge of how to protect and care for those in stroke recovery.
This summer, WashU softball players Alex Rubin and Emily Talkow are serving as interns for the organization while riding cross-country and will be making a stop in St. Louis on Wednesday, July 20 for an event at Tower Grove Park, Sons of Rest Pavilion from 6 to 8 p.m. CT.
Ahead of the event, Rubin penned a letter about the experience thus far:
"This summer, Emily and I have joined Stroke Onward on their journey, Stroke Across America (SAAM), to help raise awareness for stroke and aphasia. Most importantly, the goal of this trip is to place emphasis on the lack of infrastructure available to stroke survivors to help them navigate the emotional recovery process, including rebuilding their own identity. We initially connected with this team via Emily's grandpa, lovingly referred to "Boopah," who is a stroke survivor himself and avid cyclist.
Interning for this organization sounded like a great opportunity to apply and develop my own creative media skills while having an active and adventure-oriented summer. What I didn't anticipate was just how much I
would learn of and from the Stroke Across America team, and the greater stroke survivor community. The core SAAM riding group consists of Stroke Onward co-founders Deb Meyerson (a stroke survivor, Stanford PhD and Stanford Professor, and author) and Steve Zuckerman (care partner), traumatic brain injury survivor and former Tufts Women's Soccer star Whitney Hardy, and stroke survivor and educator Michael Obel-Omia. By far, the easiest part of this cross-country trip has been falling in love with these individuals. Prior to this journey, I had never heard of aphasia—a common resultant effect of stroke where the survivor's ability to communicate their internal monologue is fractured. Often misinterpreted, aphasia damages one's communication of speech, not their intellect.
Being around Deb, Michael, and Whitney, I have learned a new level of patience. The Stanford PhD, the esteemed educator, and the go-getting athletic soccer force, are all still in there. You just sometimes need to allow them the opportunity to express their words or help them remember where they placed their bike light chargers.
What may have started as a great opportunity to develop resume and career skills, has turned into something much bigger. The most rewarding moments of SAAM for me have consistently been the days that we hold events. Riding across the country, we stop in major cities like Missoula, Mont., Boulder and Denver, Colo., Kansas City, Mo., and next up on the 20th: St. Louis. At these events, Deb shares her story of perseverance, frustration, and ultimate survival through stroke. Steve shares his difficult journey of being a care partner during such a physically, mentally, and emotionally taxing time. We hear the stories of survivors outside of our organization—allies who have come together for a greater cause and to foster community that transcends county and state lines. I find myself emotional at the consistent strength, grit, honesty, pain, and love that exudes from the characters of these former strangers turned friends.
We all know, in our own personalized experiences of adversity, how important it is to find community with those who understand your pain. It is one thing to communicate your experiences to a different person. It is a wildly different thing to converse with someone who knows their own personalized version of your hardships. So, we can all understand the enormity of Stroke Across America's action to provide a space for these connections to exist. In cities ranging from Astoria, Ore. to Boston, Mass. On social media platforms. On news channels. The message is clear, and the message is loud:
You are not alone. There is work to be done.
Whether you have a personal connection to stroke or not, we welcome you to join our community. Join Stroke Across America, and help us be the impetus for change.
For those of you reading from St. Louis, we would love to see you at our event at Tower Grove on July 20th from 6-8 pm.
And as always, go bears. :)"
For more information or to RSVP to the July 20 event at Tower Grove Park, click HERE.
