As Paul sat quietly in his room at The Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis waiting for his next round of therapy to start, he pulled what appeared to be a never-ending stack of handmade cards written by his students out of a bag that was delivered by his daughter, Kristen.

A subtle smile appeared across his face, followed by a few chuckles. “This is the third bag of cards she’s brought me!” Paul is a middle school math teacher in St. Louis, Mo., who has a heart for geometry but recently, he’s had to take some unexpected time off from the classroom due to a medical emergency.

After not feeling well one evening and deciding to get some rest, he woke up and realized his left side was weak and uncooperative. His wife, Dee, called an ambulance and Paul was rushed to Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital, which is certified as a Primary Stroke Center by The Joint Commission.

Dr. Brendan Eby, Washington University neurologist, urgently evaluated Paul’s symptoms, which suggested a stroke, and determined next steps. Within 45 minutes of Paul’s arrival, Dr. Eby began a thrombectomy, a minimally invasive procedure to open a blocked artery and restore blood flow to the brain. Due to quick and precise interventions performed by Dr. Eby, the stroke was successfully treated, preventing potentially catastrophic damage. Once Paul was stable, he was transferred to The Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis to begin his recovery.

During his time at The Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis he said his therapy played a key role in helping him regain his independence.

“My therapist, Sofia, taught me how to walk again,” he said. “I can’t tell you how grateful I am for that. And even though I hated it at first, the Prism therapy (a treatment used to treat spatial neglect) with speech therapist, Heather, also helped a lot!”

Paul has already achieved many recovery goals in the last few weeks and continues to work hard since he’s left our hospital. He said he looks forward to getting back to teaching and hearing the bullhorn sound from his St. Louis Blues hockey season ticket holder seat after a goal is scored. Paul’s parting words: “Let’s go Blues!”