Judy and Jack Gasper of Kennedy Township, Pa., love spending time at their cabin in Tionesta, two hours north of Pittsburgh. After enjoying an evening with friends there in May, Jack and Judy both woke in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. “I turned around and she was on the ground,” says Jack. “There was no doubt in my mind she was having a stroke.”
“I don’t remember much of what happened,” says Judy. “I don’t even remember having any pain or a headache.”
“I call it our day of five miracles, where everything we needed came together. The first miracle was having a clear cell signal when I called 911,” says Jack.
“The second miracle was the first responder who arrived within 15 minutes of my call, with two ambulances not far behind,” he remembers.
The third miracle was that Judy was going by helicopter to the hospital.
“Once I knew that, I was pretty insistent that they take her to UPMC Presbyterian,” recalls Jack. “She needed to be close to home and get the best care.”
UPMC Presbyterian is certified as a Comprehensive Stroke Center by The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. Only an elite group of hospitals hold this highest level of stroke certification, which recognizes state-of-the-art care for the most complex cases.
“Our fourth miracle was having Dr. Al-Bayati at the hospital that early morning,” says Jack. After the onset of a stroke, early action to restore blood flow is crucial. When Judy arrived at the hospital, the stroke team used advanced neuroimaging to check the size and location of the clot. Dr. Al-Bayati then performed a thrombectomy, a breakthrough minimally invasive technique to remove blood clots from large arteries in the brain and restore blood flow. It’s been shown to dramatically reduce brain damage and stroke-related disabilities.
“The fifth miracle? It was just 2.5 hours from Judy’s collapse to a successful surgery on her brain. It was incredible,” says Jack. “It was truly a day of miracles.”
Three days later, Judy was transferred to the rehabilitation unit at UPMC Montefiore. She was determined to overcome any effects from the stroke. “I told the therapists that we had a family vacation in North Carolina in three weeks, and I planned to be there,” says Judy. “I knew what I had to do. I'm pretty active, and the wonderful, wonderful people at the rehab unit helped me get and keep moving.” After eight days of in-hospital therapy, she continues to do outpatient physical therapy and expects to get back to nearly 100% of her pre-stroke health.
Eleven days after a massive stroke, Judy was back home and enjoying every day — even being able to play the accordion again with her polka band. “We didn't realize how wonderful normal was,” she says. “And we made it to the beach! The expert and exceptional care I received made this possible.”
“We both feel so unbelievably fortunate to have UPMC — there's none other. The level of care was phenomenal,” says Jack. “You know UPMC’s catchphrase ‘Life Changing Medicine’? We think they should change it to ‘Life Saving Medicine,’ because that’s exactly what UPMC did for us. They saved Judy.”
