Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- Karissa Glover, 25, suffered a stroke due to a heart condition.
- Despite mobility loss, Glover recovered through intensive therapy and regained abilities.
- Experts emphasize recognizing stroke signs using the BE FAST acronym for timely action.
MURRAY — Karissa Glover is always up for a challenge.
The former college athlete does CrossFit several times a week and competes in different events. But a major health challenge was one she never expected.
Almost two years ago, at just 25, Glover noticed something wasn't right.
"I felt off, and I was like, 'Well, I'll sleep it off,'" she recalled.
She video called her boyfriend, Morgan, who noticed her face was droopy and she was slurring her words. Morgan called 911.
Glover was taken by ambulance to Intermountain Medical Center, where she was rushed into surgery.
"It all happened very quick," she said.
She later learned she had suffered a stroke.
"I like couldn't wrap my head around that," she said.
Doctors determined Glover had a preexisting heart condition — two holes in her heart — which had likely led to her stroke. She stayed in the hospital for one month.
"I was in the ICU for about two weeks and the rehab unit for another two weeks," she said.
Every 40 seconds, someone suffers a stroke in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Strokes can happen to anybody," said Rachel Wisniewski, an occupational therapist with Intermountain Health. "People can lose the ability to be able to understand speech. It can affect vision; it can also affect cognition. It just depends what area of the brain has been affected by the stroke in terms of what might happen to the body."
"Stroke recovery isn't something that's usually quick; it can take a really long time," Wisniewski said.
Glover struggles with aphasia and lost mobility on the right side of her body.
"I wasn't even able to move my arm," she said.
But after intensive speech, physical, and occupational therapy — usually for several hours a day — she's back to doing what she loves and ready to take on any challenge.
"I did a lot of relearning like with one hand and now with two hands," she said. "It's been challenging, but it's worth it."
Wisniewski said Glover was recently able to put her hair up in a ponytail again — a big feat.
"We don't always see people be able to come in at the point that they're at with no movement and regain all of that movement," Wisniewski said. "I think that Karissa is extremely hardworking, extremely dedicated, and that has made a world of difference."
When it comes to strokes, every second counts. Use the acronym BE FAST to remember the signs of a stroke:
- B – Balance problems
- E – Eye or vision loss
- F – Face drooping
- A – Arm weakness
- S – Speech problems
- T – Time to act
