Benjamin Meade's Stroke Survivor Story
Filmmaker and musician Benjamin Meade was working on a film project with his partner when he suddenly felt his body go limp.
“My left eye went completely limp. The left side of my mouth when my arm went limp, my left leg went, and I knew that I was having a stroke. I was scared,” Meade remembers. During a stroke, time lost is brain lost, and delaying treatment can negatively impact a patient’s outcome. Fortunately, Meade’s partner acted quickly to get help.
“My partner helped me get into his car and he drove like a madman to Washington Regional where they had a team waiting for me. They got me in there and immediately ran a CT scan, and then gave me my options,” Meade says. “I made a decision and I was treated. They got me up in the ICU, and the whole thing was miraculous how fast it worked, how quickly that they worked on my situation.”
As Northwest Arkansas’s only Comprehensive Stroke Center, Washington Regional is equipped to treat the most complex cases and offers 24/7 in-person care with the region’s only stroke specialists and a 25-bed neurosurgical intensive care unit.
“Within four-and-a-half hours, most of the symptoms had completely subsided,” Meade recalls. “That was the deal, time was of the essence.” The care he received allowed Meade to get back to doing what he loves while helping lower his risk of stroke in the future.
“The staff at Washington Regional put me on proper medication. They've got me on a good diet, and I feel really good about my future. I am forever thankful and grateful to Washington Regional Hospital for the staff and the type of care that I had there. I don't think it would have happened like that anyplace else.”