My name is Liz Cornish and I am a physical therapist and certified senior advisor. I have worked with hundreds of people who have had strokes and know the signs of stroke but on September 23, 2024, my life changed in an instant – where everything happened just as it was supposed to. You might even call it a miracle.
My story starts on a Monday, and unlike most Mondays when I’d be out with clients, I happened to be home. I was cooking for a local homeless shelter, something my husband Tom and I do every week.
Tom had been out and came home to find me at the stove, poking at the burner but not turning it on. When I looked at him, my face was blank. At first, he thought I was joking. But he grabbed me and the right side of my body went completely limp, and I couldn’t speak a single word. He literally threw me on the couch and called 911.
I remember lying there, unable to move, unable to speak, thinking, This can’t be happening to me. I’m healthy. I’m active. I don’t have any risk factors.
But it was happening.
The ambulance rushed me to the local ER, where a CAT scan revealed a large clot completely blocking the middle cerebral artery on the left side of my brain. It was serious — very serious.
By God’s grace the doctor at this small hospital ER had a strong background in neurology and gave me the clot-busting medication. Some speech and movement started to come back. I was then transported by Life Star helicopter to a larger hospital with a stroke center.
Halfway through the flight, I felt numbness creep across my face, and I said to the medic “It’s coming back”. I lost my speech. I lost all movement on my right side. The clot had re-lodged. I was terrified.
When we landed, it was just like in the movies, a team descended upon me and walked with me as they moved me toward the operating room. They showed me objects and asked me to name them. I knew exactly what they were but could not speak. They lifted my right arm and leg and I couldn’t even feel it.
I was rushed into emergency surgery to remove the clot, through the femoral artery in my groin. I woke up with the doctor telling me I had a stroke and I said “How could I have a stroke, I have no risk factors”. I could speak and was able to move my arm and leg.
But my story doesn’t end there.
The next morning, the speech therapist came in so I could finally eat. She sat me up in bed and in that instant, I felt the most searing pain of my life in my groin. My femoral artery had ruptured, and I was bleeding out internally.
And once again, God placed the right people at the right place at the right time. The ICU doctor happened to be just steps away. He ran in, applied pressure, and called for the surgeon, who was scrubbing in for surgery. A few more seconds and he would not have been available. If he hadn’t been there at that exact moment, I would not be standing here today.
Two days after my stroke, I was able to walk the hallways of the hospital, climb stairs, and was discharged home. Later, I learned the cause: a rare condition called a carotid web — something only about 1% of people have, and something I never knew I had. A stent was placed a few weeks later to correct the web, and this past February, a follow-up scan showed that the carotid web was gone and the stent was working perfectly.
The doctors told me it was a miracle. Most people with a stroke as large as mine don’t walk away without permanent damage.
This summer my husband and I spent 9 weeks traveling and hiking through the National Parks. We walked, Hiked, and ran 630 miles and 47,000 feet of elevation.
Today, I stand here with no deficits. I am a walking, talking miracle.
I share this story because strokes don’t always look like what we expect. I had no risk factors. I was fit. I was healthy. And yet, I had a major stroke.
That’s why awareness matters. That’s why Go Red for Women and the American Heart Association matters.
Because stroke is the number one cause of disability in women and the fourth leading cause of death. Too often, women brush off symptoms or think, “This can’t be happening to me.”
But time is everything. Quick action saves lives. Tom calling 911 immediately saved mine. The right people in the right place saved mine.
So I encourage you today:
- Know the signs of stroke.
- Act F.A.S.T. Face drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty, and Time to call 911
- Take care of your health.
- And never ignore when something feels wrong.
Through this entire journey, I’ve seen miracle after miracle. And I am forever grateful — to my husband, to the incredible medical professionals who cared for me, the work of the American Heart Association for their research and protocols, and most of all, to God, who gave me a story to share.