BRIDGEPORT, CT — On December 13, Ramon Lopez, 88, was enjoying a rare sunny day in winter by feeding the birds in his garden when he started choking and slurring his words. His face was drooping on the left side and he could no longer control that side of his body. He began to collapse, but his daughter was able to grab him before he fell and call 9-1-1.
The ambulance came and took Ramon to Bridgeport Hospital, which is near the home he’s shared for decades with his wife, Laudelina, and where the family has gone for everything from broken bones to childbirth in the last couple of decades.
At the hospital, doctors quickly diagnosed Ramon with an ischemic stroke, which meant he had a blood clot starving his brain of oxygen. The team gave him a tissue plasminogen activator intravenously, a medication that helps dissolve a clot. Then Yale Department of Neurosurgery’s Dr. Farhad Bahrassa, MD, and the surgical team performed a thrombectomy. In just 16 minutes, they completed this procedure that removed the blood clot, ending the stroke.
It was the first procedure done at Bridgeport’s enhanced Stroke Center. This new center sees world-class neurosurgeons from Yale perform advanced procedures, available 24/7, and includes rehabilitation and after-care supportive services.
Getting timely access to stroke care saves lives and reduces disability. “Time is brain” is a saying in stroke care, with two million brain cells dying for every minute a stroke goes untreated. The Bridgeport Hospital Stroke Center provides area residents with more immediate access to stroke procedures such as thrombectomy.
It saved Ramon’s life. Just three days after his procedure, he returned home to his family with little memory of the incident. “He asked me why my sister called the ambulance,” says Sarita Andino, his daughter. “He told me he feels fine.”
Other than medications to prevent another stroke, Ramon is back to normal life, as healthy as he was before, with clear speech and no weakness on his left side. “He’s just bounced back,” says Sarita. “You can’t tell he’s had a stroke.” Laudelina remembers the permanent damage that a stroke caused her mother many years ago and is shocked at how quickly Ramon has recovered. “When we found out he had a stroke, I thought ‘Oh no, this is going to be bad,’” she says.
The family spent Christmas together and are thrilled to have Ramon back to enjoy his extended family, his garden and his health. “We are so grateful that he is here today,” says Sarita. “We truly believe that God has helped us through this.”
Media Contact: Jenny Chen, jenny.chen@yale.edu