Finding His Voice Again at Riverview
Inspirational Stories
At 48 years old, Steve felt his brain “turn to mush.”
He was sitting in his truck, about to start his workday. Then it happened. Words disappeared. Thoughts scattered. The world stopped making sense.
With just enough awareness, he texted himself:
“I can’t speak. Gibberish. Brain. Help. Stroke.”
When his coworker pulled up, Steve honked his horn and pointed to his phone.
That message saved his life.
Steve was right. He had a stroke. He was rushed to the hospital and got the emergency treatment he needed, but afterward he could not speak.
“I felt trapped in my own mind,” he said. “I knew what I wanted to say, but my mouth wouldn’t do it.”
He came to the only place in Manitoba where he could get the care he needed to recover: Riverview Health Centre’s Stroke Rehabilitation Program.
“When we heard he could come to Riverview, it was such a relief,” his wife Char said. “This is what we had been hoping for.”
Steve lives outside the city, where the wait for rehab like speech therapy can be up to a year and a half.
But at Riverview, he began intensive, one-on-one rehabilitation right away — during the crucial early days of recovery after stroke.
Each morning, he worked with a speech-language pathologist to retrain his brain and relearn how to talk. Even reading a children’s book could bring on pounding headaches.
In the afternoons, he worked with an occupational therapist, rebuilding his thinking and problem-solving skills through exercises that challenged his brain in new ways.
Steve walked the Riverview grounds daily, staying active while his brain did the hard work of healing.
This kind of care doesn’t happen without support from donors like you.
When you donate, you help fund the tools, therapy, and specialized care that allow patients to rebuild speech, restore movement, and regain independence after stroke.
With the right tools and care in place, Steve was able to keep moving forward. And as new and improved tools become available, we rely on donor support to bring them into care.
Today, Steve’s back at work. He can speak with ease again. He can have conversations with his family. He can read books to his grandson.
“Without Riverview, I wouldn’t have been able to get the treatment I needed,” he said.
“The care I got was truly amazing.”
Give today to help someone like Steve access the care they need, when it matters most.