Fresno hospital raises awareness during World Stroke Day event
Oct 29, 2024
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - Community Regional Medical Center held its annual World Stroke Day event to raise awareness for stroke education and prevention.
During the event, local resident Estella Bailey gave her story about how an Ischemic Stroke changed her life.
"I couldn't talk. I couldn't speak, I couldn't walk. I couldn't do anything," Bailey said about the stroke she suffered on July 20, 2024.
Once she began showing symptoms of a stroke she was rushed to the hospital, where she was treated and made a miraculous recovery.
"It's wonderful to talk about it because this is a wonderful hospital," she said. "I can't talk enough about these people, you don't have words to explain to you what it means."
Bailey is now spreading awareness to others to help them recognize the symptoms sooner.
"We are so glad that here at CRMC we are able to celebrate World Stroke Day and create awareness," said Joyce Eden, a registered nurse at CRMC. "That things that used to be don't need to be that way anymore for treatment, for rehabilitation and actually for prevention as well."
Eden says BFAST and GFAST are the acronyms used to remember the signs of a stroke.
BFAST stands for Balance, Face, Arms, Speech and Time. GFAST stands for Gaze, Face, Arms, Speech and Time.
"So the balance and the other thing too, is anything that's happening on a sudden basis, any of those symptoms, so they don't all have to be together," said Eden.
"We cannot save your brain cells if you come too late. So it's better to go get examined, get the scan done, screen it out, and look for alternate reasons why you're having those symptoms, than not giving us that opportunity."
For more information on stroke symptoms, visit communityregional.org.