01/28/2025
Facebook post Copied from Jona May
Let me tell you about my God. We are speechless. My dad continues to fight for us and with his fight and your prayers and our amazing God, he is truly a MIRACLE.
I have not went into much detail about all the events that took place Saturday and I’ve had many people ask, so be prepared to have your mind blown….
Let’s start from the beginning last week… Monday he started acting off… more confused, was having small falls, numbness, and balance issues. Being who he is, he denied there was an issue and said he was fine.
Wednesday, at my birthday, he was very off. He was confused, didn’t seem to have much control on his right side, and was very weak. We thought maybe he was just sore and then was scared of a possible infection bc of his history and recent amputation of part of his big toe. Mom suggested the doctor but of course he kept saying he was fine. Mom tested him for flu, Covid, and strep and all were negative.
Saturday, he fell down the entire flight of stairs from the top step. He busted THROUGH a glass shadow box, busted sheet rock… I mean it was bad. Mom took him to the er where I met them. They done scans from head to toe and noticed a spot on the ct and this is when we discovered a stroke had occurred. They were not super concerned and suggested an mri so was gonna transfer us to a nearby hospital that had an mri machine. He also split his head and needed a few staples. Was bruised and beaten up pretty bad but somehow he didn’t have 1 broken bone and honestly, me and him were making jokes and laughing and giving mom a hard time, so he truly seemed okay.
Out of nowhere, before the ambulance arrived to transfer him to highlands, he was telling a story and out of nowhere his mouth shut and he began to slur, his face dropped, his hand drew up, and his right side became paralyzed completely. He couldn’t move his leg, his hand, nothing on the right side. He couldn’t even follow a light with his eyes. Doctors rushed in, it became very scary very fast.
We then learned that his carotid artery was completely blocked by a clot so his left side of his brain wasn’t getting proper flow and causing a series of strokes. We were connected over zoom with a neurologist who acted very quickly. They had made plans to fly him out asap to get him to a facility that could handle the situation and time was important bc we needed to act quickly.
We were informed that this was very serious. We were told that the surgery may not even be an option given the complication of everything… he does have Parkinson’s and lupus and so this also elevated the risk of things. Without the surgery, his brain would have continued losing flow and honestly at that point, idk what options were. Honestly I think we were too scared to ask.
Another risk we were informed of from the zoom call was that if they did the surgery, there’d be a high risk that the clot could flow to the brain. We all know what the outcome of this could have been.
We were all terrified. We kissed him goodbye and They flew him out as quick as possible where he ended up at UK. We all rushed there but ended up having to give consent over the phone for surgery bc at that point, there was no other options and time was important. Surgery was between 3-4 hours to remove the clot. It was SUCCESSFUL.
We were then met with a doctor who was talking to us and giving us some things to expect. We were told he could be on a breathing tube for a while due to his age and the severity of the blockage and the stroke. We were told he could be in for weeks possibly months. We were told that we would not know the damage done until he wakes up but things may be different. We were told that usage of his right side was also in limbo. There was so many unknowns. At this point, we just wanted him alive.
Now… this is where he defies all odds. HE IS OFF THE BREATHING MACHINE IN LESS THAN 8 HOURS! HE IS SPEAKING. HE HAS MINOR CONFUSION BUT HE KNOWS US, KNOWS BASIC COMMANDS, AND CONTINUES TO IMPROVE. NOT ONLY THAT, HE HAS THEM HELPING HIM TO WALK AGAIN IN LESS THAT 3 DAYS! HE WAS EVEN ABLE TO TALK TO THE KIDS YESTERDAY ON FACETIME! HE ALSO DOES NOT HAVE TO GO TO CARDINAL HILL FOR REHAB!
My 74 year old dad is literally a miracle. If you followed our story last year, he was also on a vent for more than 30 days, icu for months, and also beat the odds of a 10 percent survival rate then.
Y’all, God has big plans, my dad has such a will to live and refuses to give up! I know he also has had so many prayers from all of you.
THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO HAS PRAYED, MESSAGED, CALLED, VISITED, OR SUPPORTED HIM IN ANY WAY. You will never know how much this means to us.
Is he completely out of the woods yet? No. But he continues improving and we are continuing to ask for prayers. He is fighting as hard as he can for his family and we can see that! To say I’m thankful is an understatement. God is in control y’all. Continue praying for him and continue praying for mom!
Like he always says… GODS GOT THIS! He is such an inspiration!
