Before Easter in 2015, I experienced a headache in the evening and 
thatÕs not atypical for me. So, I do what I typically do which is just 
go to sleep , hoping that it will soon pass and they typically do. 
Unfortunately on Sunday, I didnÕt feel a whole lot better but I had a 
new symptom that my eye was Š my eyelid specifically, was a little bit 
heavy, if you will, and I was having a little bit of trouble with my 
vision in that eye. And my eye doctor said that I needed to catch up 
with the Neuro-Ophthalmologist, which I did. They proceeded to look 
into my eye and said that I was likely having a stroke. 
A stroke is when the blood flow stops to the brain and thereÕs many 
things that can cause that. And what Deb had is known as a Carotid 
Dissection, which is a splitting of the layers of the blood vessel. 
And if the inner layer somehow tears and the blood goes between the 
layers, thereÕs a problem with closing off or pinching off the blood 
vessel and that can form clots that can go to the brain. 
It is a fairly uncommon condition in general. That said, it is a 
relatively common cause of stroke in young and middle-aged adults. The 
symptoms usually result from theŃ a tear in the lining of an artery. 
And, so, the hallmark symptom is neck pain or face pain that comes on 
when the injury actually occurs and then it can affect the nerves as 
they go up into and control the eyelid and some of the pupil area 
functions. But as someone whoÕs young and healthy like Deb was, and 
like most people who suffer carotid artery dissections, stroke or an 
injury to an artery in your neck is not the first thing that comes to 
mind. So, we were fortunate to be able to diagnose Deb as soon as we 
did. 
The fact that I had no deficits from having had this very intense 
event in my life, really made me a lot more thankful in knowing that 
even though I went through something that was pretty scary, um, I can 
help others by giving back so that they donÕt have to experience the 
same things that I did. 
Part of DebÕs efforts to help us raise awareness for Cervical Artery 
Dissection and also raise money for our Stroke Research was to channel 
one of her favorite activities which is spinning. Deb helped host a 
Spin-a-thon with some of her close friends and stroke patients. And 
other people that have suffered from Cervical Artery Dissection came 
out voluntarily to participate in this, which was really great 
Next year, weÕre looking to make it even bigger, invite more people 
from the community, more support from our research partners, and more 
patients. 
There needs to be more awareness. So, for me thatÕs really where I 
hang my hat. And that I can speak for people who werenÕt as lucky as 
I, and be able to talk to people and educate people that this could 
happen, is really important.