Life After Stroke - Dick Clark Shows The Way

It was announced today that Dick Clark will once again host the big New Years Eve party in New York City. Last year, Clark returned to the party after missing the year before due to a stroke. Almost everyone in the world knows someone who has suffer a major stroke, but Dick Clark puts the long lasting problems and symptoms of this illness in its proper perspective. I wrote here a few months ago about having someone in my own family suffer a stroke, so I know first hand how difficult it is for the patient and the families involved to get on with their lives. I remember my uncle telling me with great passion a few weeks after his stroke about how he tried as hard as he could to will his hand to move, but nothing happened. My uncle’s stroke was on the left side of his brain, so it effected the right side of his body.

While some folks will find it hard to watch Dick Clark go on national television and not be as mobile or have the same distinctive voice we have grown to recognize, Clark is doing the nation a service with his television appearances. So many people believe there is no good quality of life after a major stroke, but Dick Clark is proving that notion a falsehood. Just like Michael J. Fox is providing inspiration to Parkinson’s Disease patients by his public appearances, Dick Clark is doing the same for people who suffer a stroke. In recent years the need of role models has been played down in the world because so many previous role models have let down the people who tried to emulate their actions. However, I believe role models are necessary for most people because of the mixed messages which are sent out daily on national tabloid TV shows.

There is an old saying that goes, “you are not defeated until you quit”, and that is so true and folks like Dick Clark are proving that just because a person suffers a stroke, their life doesn’t have to be over. Sure, change will be necessary but people are forced to change every single day for one reason on another. As baby boomers continue to age, there will be more famous examples of people suffering a stroke and getting on with their life. Dick Clark is the first person that I have noticed in the public eye that has put vanity behind him and matched headfirst back into the public arena. Rather than showing pity for what this stroke did to Dick Clark’s speech patterns, I choose to see the brave way he has faced adversity by refusing to give up when something this tragic unexpectedly struck his life.

Related: Uncle Suffered Stroke, Sharon Near Death, Aspirin Ibuprofen Study, Pain Reliever Issues, Stroke Scares Family

Life After Stroke

Daily Archives: | 02, 04, 07, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28