• Skip to main content
Search
  • Home
  • Services
      • Behavioral Health
      • Bloodless Medicine
      • Brain & Spine
      • Cancer Care
      • Ear, Nose and Throat
      • Emergency Care
      • Senior Health
      • Heart & Vascular Care
      • Home Health Care
      • Immediate Care
      • Medical Imaging
      • Minimally Invasive Surgery
      • Orthopedics
      • Pregnancy & Childbirth
      • Primary Care
      • Rehabilitation Services
      • Weight Loss Surgery
      • Wound Healing & Care
      • Women's Health
  • Doctors
      • Find a Primary Care Doctor
      • Find a Doctor
      • Physician Referral
      • Practices:

        Baptist Primary Care
      • Baptist AgeWell
      • Baptist Behavioral Health
      • Baptist Endocrinology
      • Baptist ENT Specialists
      • Baptist Heart Specialists
      • Baptist Infectious Diseases
      • Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Physicians
      • Baptist Neurology
      • Baptist Pediatrics
      • Baptist Pulmonary Specialists (Nassau)
      • Baptist Rheumatology
      • Baptist Urology Group (Nassau)
      • Jacksonville Orthopaedic Institute
      • Lyerly Neurosurgery
  • Locations
    • Our Hospitals:

      • Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville
      • Baptist Medical Center South
      • Baptist Medical Center Beaches
      • Baptist Medical Center Nassau
      • Baptist Heart Hospital
      • Wolfson Children's Hospital

      Emergency Rooms (ER):

      • All ER Locations

      Imaging:

      • By Location

      • Imaging Center Locations
      • By Service

      • MRI
      • Bone Density
      • Screening Mammography
      • Diagnostic Mammography
      • Ultrasound
      • Vascular Ultrasound
      • CT Scan
      • PET Scan
      • Nuclear Medicine
      • X-Ray

      Urgent Care Locations:

      • Baptist Health Clinics at Walgreens
      • CareSpot Urgent Care

      Outpatient Locations:

      • AgeWell Center for Senior Health
      • Baptist Clay Medical Campus
      • Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center
      • Baptist Neurodiagnostic Center
      • Baptist North Medical Campus
      • Heart and Vascular Testing Centers
      • Hill Breast Center
      • Infusion Center
      • Pharmacy
      • Rehabilitation Centers
      • Robotic Spine Surgery
      • Sleep Centers
      • Stroke and Cerebrovascular Center
      • Surgery Centers
      • Wound Care

      Health & Wellness:

      • 4her Wellness Resources for Women
      • JCA Wellness Connexion
      • Y Healthy Living Centers
  • Patient Info
      • Billing & Insurance Information
      • Insurance Plans Accepted
      • Cost Estimate Request
      • Financial Assistance Program
      • My Baptist Connect (Patient Portal)
      • Medical Records
      • Classes and Events
      • Clinical Trials
      • Tell Us What You Think
  • Health Library
      • Diseases and Conditions
      • Symptoms
      • Tests
      • Surgeries and Procedures
      • Injuries
      • Nutrition
      • Poison
      • Drug Information
      • Drug Images
      • Health News
      • Video Library
  • About Us
      • Administration
      • Awards & Honors
      • Careers
      • Provider Opportunities
      • Baptist MD Anderson Provider Opportunities
      • Spiritual Care
      • Social Responsibility
      • Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA)
      • Corporate Wellness (PATH)
      • Volunteering
      • Newsroom
  • Juice
      • Health News Overview:

      • Aging Well
      • Brain, Spine & Nerve
      • Cancer
      • Child Health
      • Community Health
      • Diabetes
      • Ear, Nose & Throat
      • Heart & Vascular
      • Lungs, Breathing & Sleep
      • Mental Health
      • Orthopedics, Bones & Muscles
      • Pregnancy & Childbirth
      • Primary Care
      • Wellness
      • Women's Health
      • Men's Health
  1. Home
  2. Health Library
  3. Health News
  4. AHA News: Now a 2-Time Survivor, Tedy Bruschi Still Tackling Stroke Awareness

AHA News: Now a 2-Time Survivor, Tedy Bruschi Still Tackling Stroke Awareness

THURSDAY, Sept. 5, 2019 (American Heart Association News) -- Former NFL star Tedy Bruschi spent the last 14 years showing what a stroke survivor could do: continue playing pro football, climb Mount Kilimanjaro, run the Boston Marathon.

Now Bruschi is showing what a two-time stroke survivor can do.

Bruschi had his second stroke on July 4. Since then he's run a 7-mile road race, and every Sunday during the NFL season he'll appear on ESPN's "NFL Countdown" show.

Bruschi became a runner after retiring from football. He'd already started Tedy's Team to raise stroke awareness. Based in Boston, it only made sense the organization tapped into that city's famous marathon to help spread its message and raise money for research. And it only made sense for the founder to join them.

Supporting the cause wasn't the only reason. Bruschi also wanted to remain as healthy as possible.

Tremendous fitness at the time of his first stroke was a big reason he was able to return to the NFL only eight months later. He figured that continuing to remain in shape might help ward off a second stroke.

As a former linebacker, he had the perfect rationalization: "Defense is what I do for a living."

"There's never a 100 percent guarantee of preventing a stroke," he said. "But I figured that if it did ever happen again, I'd be prepared."

In April, Bruschi finished his third Boston Marathon. His trio of medals matched the number of Super Bowl rings he won with the New England Patriots.

On July 4, he ran 3 1/2 miles from his house to the high school where his sons attend. His wife Heidi, 14-year-old son Dante and 17-year-old son Rex drove there to meet him for a workout.

Tedy arrived first. He spent about 10 minutes cooling off and remaining loose. Once his family arrived, he reached down to pick up a mesh bag that held lightweight resistance bands. He grabbed the bag's straps with both hands. Only his right arm came up.

"What's going on?" he said.

The words came out garbled. His wife and sons looked at him. They noticed the left side of his face drooping.

Because of their involvement with Tedy's Team, everyone realized what was happening. Face drooping, arm weakness and speech difficulty are among the warning signs in the BE FAST acronym promoted by the organization.

"I had no freakout period at all," he said. "My concern was more about my sons being there."

Heidi called 911. In the ambulance, Bruschi regained feeling in his fingers and his speech began to improve. By the time they reached the hospital, Heidi noticed his face wasn't drooping as much.

He suffered a transient ischemic attack, known by the acronym TIA. It's also called a "warning stroke," as in potentially the precursor of something more severe.

The TIA caused no damage. He underwent extensive testing in search of what caused it. There was no definitive answer. The biggest finding involved a slight protein deficiency that's now being addressed with medication.

"For a guy who always wants answers, I'm OK with it," he said. "They told me my heart's good, my vessels are good, my cholesterol is fine, I'm in great shape and I have a high level of fitness. So now I take a blood thinner and …"

He paused, laughed, and added, "No more football comebacks."

Bruschi's first stroke hit in February 2005, nine days after his third Super Bowl championship, and just two days after playing in the Pro Bowl. At 31, he figured his poor balance, lack of vision in one eye and crushing headache were from football.

Further tests showed he had a blood clot in his brain. It was an ischemic stroke caused by a congenital birth defect known as patent foramen ovale, a hole in the heart that was supposed to close after birth but didn't. Many people have it and, like him, don't discover it until there's an event such as a stroke. Doctors fixed his via surgery.

Before Bruschi's first game back in the NFL, as he stood in the tunnel waiting to be introduced, he felt waves of emotion. Similar feelings washed over him on Aug. 18 – six weeks after his second stroke – as he stood at the starting line of the Falmouth Road Race in Massachusetts.

"I was thinking, 'I'm back again. This is comeback 2.0.'"

Daily Health and Medical News

  • Babies May 'See' Light While in the Womb
    December 03, 2019

  • Uncontrolled Asthma a Danger to Pregnant Women, Babies
    December 03, 2019

  • Are E-Scooters a Quick Ticket to the ER?
    December 03, 2019

  • Taking Several Prescription Drugs May Trigger Serious Side Effects
    December 03, 2019

  • AHA News: Vegan Diet May Decrease Heart Disease, Stroke Risk in African Americans
    December 03, 2019

© Copyright 2019 | All Rights Reserved

If you speak another language, assistance services
free of charge, are available to you.

Baptist Health Facebook Baptist Health Twitter Baptist Health on LinkedIn Baptist Health on Instagram Baptist Health on Youtube
Physician Login | Application Login | Employee Login
Quality Measures | Privacy | Non-Discrimination | Comments | Site Map