Stroke survivor Elizabeth Hindinger. (Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Hindinger) A few days after her 42nd birthday, Elizabeth Hindinger woke up with a searing headache. A doctor gave her a prescription to treat migraines, though she’d not had them before. A couple days later, the headache unabated, Hindinger drove herself to the medical clinic in her…
Stroke survivor Bob Parker at his favorite coffee shop in Pasadena, California. (Photo courtesy of Bob Parker) Bob Parker was waiting for a parking spot at his neighborhood coffee shop when he suddenly saw a flash. His foot slipped off the break and he crashed into a pole. The café window shattered. Inside his crumpled…
Emily Meister has three heart conditions but is taking charge of how it shapes her future. (Photo by R. Dodson Photography) In second grade, Emily Meister was performing as Gretl Von Trapp in the local high school production of “The Sound of Music” when she felt her heart beating unusually fast. She also sensed pressure…
Heart attack survivor Michael Capalbo. (Photo courtesy of Michael Capalbo) Michael Capalbo was standing in an aisle at the pharmacy chain where he was a manager when he felt an intense burning sensation raging across his chest from shoulder to shoulder. He texted his supervisor. She rushed to call 911 and get Capalbo aspirin. Sitting…
Maizy Ferrell had a congenital heart defect that led to open-heart surgery as a baby. (Photo courtesy of Traci Poore) In this day of over-the-top, gender-reveal parties, Traci Poore was different. She and her first husband didn’t want to know whether they were having a boy or a girl. They didn’t find out with their…
Mike Wigal (right) with his wife, Kathy. (Photo courtesy of Mike Wigal) Just before Mike Wigal was put under for arthroscopic knee surgery, the anesthesiologist stopped the procedure. He needed to check something he saw on a heart monitor. After the procedure, the orthopedic surgeon told Wigal that he hadn’t found anything wrong inside the…
Play without Auto-Play Play Video Text A little after 9 p.m. on a Friday in July, Dr. Kevin Volpp arrived at a restaurant in Cincinnati with his 15-year-old daughter Daphne, her squash coach and some friends. Everyone was tired and eager for a good meal. Daphne was coming off her second long, intense match of…
Eddie deRoulet has logged more than 18,000 miles and counting since his stroke in 2016. (Photo courtesy of Janice deRoulet) Eddie deRoulet never was the type to let others do things for him. Not in his years as a Marine and not in his subsequent career helping others. Then a stroke left him compromised on…
Stroke survivor Brady Johnson turned to bodybuilding to help him lose weight. (Photo courtesy of Liquid Spectrum) His headaches were getting worse, but R. Brady Johnson kept running. Running was his release, first while he was an active senior airman in the U.S. Air Force and later in the Air National Guard reserve force. One…
Melanie Falcon didn’t know she had a congenital heart defect – until an infection required emergency open-heart surgery. (Photo by Alison Conklin Photography) On the first crisp day of fall, Melanie Falcon went for a run in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She returned home feeling more worn out than usual. In the days that followed, Falcon –…