Last Friday, news broke that former New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi was recovering from a stroke he had suffered the previous morning. Luckily, he reacted quickly after recognizing the first warning signs and was in medical care a short time later. On Monday morning, the 46-year-old took to social media to give an update on his recovery and how he experienced the stroke:
Around 10:30am on July 4th I lost use of my left arm. I then tried to speak and realized I was slurring my speech. As I turned to my wife she noticed the left side of my face was drooping. We immediately knew what was happening. These are stroke warning signs. We called 911 and an ambulance got me to the hospital. Thank you for all your kind thoughts and prayers. I’m doing much better.
Bruschi, who created the ‘Tedy’s Team’ running club in 2005 to raise awareness and funds for the American Stroke Association, also shared the easy to memorize warning signs of a stroke in his Instagram post. Quickly reacting to these signs may very well have saved the Patriots Hall of Famer’s life last week:
Bruschi, who retired from the NFL after the 2008 season, has suffered a stroke before: in February 2005, he was hospitalized because of a mild stroke but did return to the gridiron just eight months later. The three-time Super Bowl champion, who appeared in a combined 211 regular season and playoff games over the course of his 13-year career with the Patriots, was subsequently named the NFL’s comeback player of the year.