ORANGE POPSICLES?
Amy Wooddell (24 years old) was left motionless and speechless after surviving a brain stem stroke. Words started to form from her mouth but came out as faint whispers. As those words became more vocal she told her husband, of 4 months, that she loved him... and that she wanted an orange popsicle. Over and over again she would mouth the word...popsicle. Soon sentences were formed and the craving for something other than a pink swab dunked in water was intensifying. Once she was moved to an inpatient rehab facility in Chicago, she had to take a "Swallow Test". She passed! Afterwards, the rehab case worker went out and purchased a box of orange popsicles for her and her family. This was the first food outside of water and Jevity.
National Orange Popsicle Week is an awareness campaign and our mission is to raise awareness of stroke in young people. Our vision is to see the percentage of stroke in young people decrease. You can help us accomplish this by learning the signs of a stroke and educating young people too! We understand the impact and severity of a stroke, however we are enjoying life and things might get silly on here.
Every year we rally together as a community to contribute to this vision. While most of our impact will be social network based, we will have events throughout the third week of May, here in Kansas City (See events page).
What we ask of you is to join us online and help spread awareness. Keep up to date on events happening currently for NOPW. Check out PHOTOS and VIDEOS of our supporters. We will have specific things you can do throughout the week. If you can not join us for anything locally, gather some friends and some popsicles and take a picture! Hashtag #NOPW13 and you will be automatically added to the photo contest.
Outside of the week itself, we promote education and awareness of stroke in young people. We love to visit schools, churches, companies... whatever. Go HERE to get more information about speaking engagements.
For those going through a situation involving a stroke: Our hearts are filled with passion to meet you and be with you in your time of need. It can be very scary, but we want you to know that you are not alone and we are here for you (plus our entire community). We know what you are going through, literally.
WHAT IS A STROKE?
“A stroke or “brain attack” occurs when a blood clot blocks an artery (a blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the body) or a blood vessel (a tube through which the blood moves through the body) breaks, interrupting blood flow to an area of the brain. When either of these things happen, brain cells begin to die and brain damage occurs.
When brain cells die during a stroke, abilities controlled by that area of the brain are lost. These abilities include speech, movement and memory. How a stroke patient is affected depends on where the stroke occurs in the brain and how much the brain is damaged.
For example, someone who has a small stroke may experience only minor problems such as weakness of an arm or leg. People who have larger strokes may be paralyzed on one side or lose their ability to speak. Some people recover completely from strokes, but more than 2/3 of survivors will have some type of disability”
Go HERE for a very informative packet from the National Stroke Association.
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