STROKE SURVIVOR IS ON THE ROAD AGAIN
A motivated stroke victim gets back on his feet and onto his bike
When Wes Young started therapy at Socorro General Hospital, he couldn’t walk by himself, much less ride a bicycle.
Many of us recognize the jaunty bright banners flapping in the wind above a lime-green shirted cyclist aboard a sporty low-slung three-wheeled trike hurtling down Sedillo Hill near Socorro at 40-plus miles per hour, but few of us are privy to the three years of steely dedication that has made Wes Young’s cycling joyrides possible.
In August 2013, Wes, a National Radio Astronomy Observatory software engineer, (he prefers the term “software artist”) was looking forward to an active retirement with his astrophysicist wife, Lisa, and their two teenage sons, Karl and Joey.
The family had moved to Taiwan for Lisa’s sabbatical year at the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics. The boys were attending Taipei American School, and newly retired Wes had his own appointment with ASIAA assisting astrophysicists with software applications.
On a Friday morning in February 2014, Wes suffered a massive stroke.
“I had gotten up, had breakfast, and then everything started spinning. I couldn’t stand up,” Wes says. “I figured it would stop, but it didn’t.”
The last memory he can recall of the ordeal was getting to the doctor’s office.
“Wes remembers very little of the four months he spent in the hospitals in Taiwan,” Lisa recalls. “And that may be just as well, because it was an intensely terrifying time for the rest of us. Two rounds of brain surgery — one an emergency prefaced by the phone call that nobody wants: ‘Hello, Mrs. Young. I’m the neurosurgeon. How soon can you get here?’”
Wes said a therapist told him, “That you’re here is a miracle. You had a 20 percent chance of living.”
The rest of the year in Taiwan was grueling.
“He had to relearn almost everything, including swallowing,” Lisa said. “He was completely bedridden for many months.”
Both he and Lisa attribute his recovery to the excellent medical care he received in Taiwan.
When Wes started therapy at Socorro General Hospital’s Outpatient Rehabilitation Center in 2014, he couldn’t walk by himself or sit down without help, much less drive a car or ride a bicycle. The stroke had damaged most of his cerebellum, which affected his balance, according to his physical therapist, Robert Vaughn.
Wes, an avid bicyclist for 50-plus years before his stroke, was determined to recover as much independence as possible, but most of all, ride a two-wheel bike again.
“His motivation has carried him further than a lot of (stroke) patients,” Vaughn said. ”He’s always setting goals for himself. It’s pretty inspiring to see. Of all the patients I’ve ever had, he’s the most motivated and dependable.”
Wes’ first goal: walking unassisted, which he has achieved, relying on a cane only occasionally.
Wes’ next goal: playing golf, which he achieved last year.
“I’ve been golfing about a year now,” he said. “I walk between the holes and use a pushcart. I golf two times a week.”
After that, a tougher goal: driving a car, but one he also has achieved.
Wes first met with an occupational therapist in Albuquerque to test whether he was ready to drive, but he failed the driving test. Undeterred, he worked harder at rehab and got his license a year and a half later.
His final goal, the most challenging for a patient with his prognosis: ride a two-wheel bike again.
The problem isn’t physical strength, but coordination. Wes rides his recumbent trike five times a week and has racked up almost 11,000 miles in three years, 1,300 of them this year alone.
Wes is now working to get his brain in shape to handle the challenges of twowheeled transportation.
Wes is supported by a harness while he rides his bike on a pair of rollers set on the ground. He pedals the bike between a pair of bars that he can hold on to if necessary.
He rides his bike while holding a bar for two minutes, then he rides without holding the bars for 10 minutes with a person holding the handlebars to help stabilize the bike, and he ends by riding and holding a bar for two minutes.
Vaughn isn’t sure Wes’ brain can achieve this last goal, but if there’s anyone who can make dreams come true, it’s Wes.
“We don’t know how much he’s going to get back after the removal of the cerebellum.” Vaughn said. “There’s not another part of the brain that takes over. Wes is inspirational because he never gives up. He continues to do what he loves to do.”