GREENSBORO, N.C. — According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a stroke happens every 40 seconds to someone in the United States, and every three minutes and 14 seconds, someone dies of a stroke.
WFMY News 2 spoke with a Greensboro man in his 30s about how his life was impacted after he had a stroke.
Thirty-seven-year-old Galin Sellars loves to fish.
"My biggest bass was so far nine pounds," Sellars said.
It’s been a passion of his since he was seven years old, watching his dad reel many in.
"He actually could’ve went pro, and so I looked up to him when we went fishing," Sellars said.
Fishing out on the water helps Sellars stay calm and stress-free. He'd tell you that being in a peaceful state is important for his body.
At the beginning of the year, he had a minor stroke.
"I didn’t realize I was having one, and I was talking to my wife. She said why don’t you just walk around the table, and maybe it’ll get out of your leg, the numbness, and I did that, and it went away, and I didn’t think anything of it," Sellars explained.
Two weeks later, in February, it happened again, but this time much worse.
"Both of my legs went numb on me and I tried to stand. I fell to the floor. Luckily my wife was just coming down the road," Sellars said.
He said his wife knew something was wrong when she asked him on the phone what he wanted to eat but he couldn’t speak in full sentences.
"My brain was scattered. So she hurried up and called the police for me," Sellars said.
Doctor Tony Deveshwar, a neuroradiologist with Cone Health, said speech difficulties, comprehension difficulties and facial drooping are symptoms of a stroke.
"Depending on where the blockage is, it would depend on what the symptoms are, so for most people, they are right-handed, they are left brain dominance," Deveshwar said.
He said strokes impact people aged 50 to 90, but they are also common in younger people and even hereditary to some degree.
"We saw strokes in younger people like 18 to the 30 age group. We used to think this was something fancy and unusual, but you find out it's common," Deveshwar said.
"My grandmother on my mom's side, she ended up having a stroke at age 40, so I felt like that was kind of hereditary," Sellars said.
After the stroke, doctors told Sellars he had blood clots in his veins and head. They encouraged him to stop smoking to lower his risk of having another one.
"I would go through a pack about every four days," Sellars said.
As for the road to recovery, it's now been about two months since Sellars had his last stroke.
"It took me a minute because I lost 50% of the feeling in my hand and my legs," Sellars said.
He quit smoking – and said he’s eating healthy.
"I still have trouble with writing, grabbing a pencil writing and stuff like that, but I practice every day, so it gets a lot better," Sellars said.
He plans to stay on the healthy path so he can continue to show up and enjoy doing what he loves, fishing.