High-fiving again

For 61-year-old Al Stewart, all was right in the world on Saturday, Aug. 10, after his beloved Jacksonville Jaguars scored their first touchdown of the 2024 preseason. But after standing up and high-fiving with fellow fans, including his brother-in-law and nephew, Stewart sat back down and realized something wasn’t right with his body.

“My left arm was numb, and I couldn’t move my fingers,” he said. “I looked up my symptoms on my phone, and some of the possible causes were either a pinched nerve or a stroke.”

When Stewart saw the word “stroke,” he didn’t waste time. After conferring with his brother-in-law, he immediately got up from his seat and walked to the nearest first-aid station at the stadium, which happened to be one section over.

“After the paramedics put me through a battery of tests, I was transported by ambulance to Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville,” he said.

Drumming for a cause

Stewart experienced the early onset of an acute ischemic stroke, a life-threatening condition that occurs when blood flow to the brain is blocked. In the emergency room, he received the intravenous clot-busting drug tenecteplase (TNK). He spent four days at Baptist Jacksonville’s Stroke & Cerebrovascular Center, the region’s only Joint Commission-certified Comprehensive Stroke Center.

“When it comes to stroke, fast detection and treatment are crucial,” said Nima Aghaebrahim, MD, a neurointerventionalist with Lyerly Neurosurgery and the primary stroke director of the Stroke & Cerebrovascular Center. “Mr. Stewart qualified for the clot-busting medication within 25 minutes of his arrival at the hospital and received further treatment for his stroke from a dedicated team of caregivers in our Neuro-Intensive Care Unit.”

After two days in the Neuro-ICU and two days in a neuro stepdown unit, Stewart, a former gospel singer and jazz drummer, regained mobility in his left arm and fingers but not his thumb. In November, after several months of physical and occupational therapy, including playing the piano and drumming on a practice pad, he was cleared to return to his job as a delivery driver for a Jacksonville-based paper manufacturer.

“Had I waited and not sought immediate treatment, Dr. Nima said the stroke could have migrated to my whole left side and even affected my speech,” Stewart added. “I’m now a stroke survivor and I will bang the drum loudly for early detection and treatment because it made all the difference for me.”

A seat in the crowd

Nearly two months after his stroke, Stewart, a Jaguars season ticket holder for more than 20 years, reclaimed his regular seat at EverBank Stadium just in time to witness the team’s first victory of the regular season.

In a Facebook post from the Oct. 6 game, Stewart said, “Yeah, it's Jaguars game day, but even bigger, my return to the stadium where I had my #stroke. Excited for the game and seeing my crew in Section 437, but most importantly, excited for me. I suffered a great brain trauma, but we caught it in time. I have a lot of living to do.”

A stroke is a life-threatening emergency that requires immediate diagnosis and treatment. If you suspect someone is having a stroke, call 911. To learn more about Baptist Health’s Stroke and Cerebrovascular Center, visit baptistjax.com/stroke or call 904.388.6518.