十几次中风打断了她成为一名律师的追求，但没有结束

布里安·里科在法学院上课时头痛得厉害. When she stood up, she stumbled. Still, she downplayed whatever was happening. She didn't have time to be sick.

That night, the headache got worse, and she took pain medicine. 第二天，她的母亲凯西说服她去看医生.

A scan showed she was having transient ischemic attacks, 或者脑细胞死亡, temporary blockages of blood flow to the brain. Doctors didn't know why. 他们把她转到洛杉矶地区的一家专科医院.

By then, Brianne, 27, was feeling fine. She started taking a blood thinner.

"Take the semester off," the doctor told her. “休息."

But Brianne didn't want to leave school. 她想重新加入她的同学，继续为家庭法方面的事业而努力. 她回去了，两年后毕业，然后开始为律师资格考试学习.

在大考的前四天，Brianne头痛，全身疼痛. She figured it was a cold, or maybe the flu. 她吃了感冒药，煮了咖啡，然后开始走回自己的房间. In the hallway, she stumbled and fell against the wall.

"What are you doing?她妈妈问.

"I think I tripped," Brianne said.

"Be careful," replied Kathy.

在她的房间里，Brianne四肢着地，打翻了她的法学院笔记. They lay scattered on the carpet. And the words suddenly looked jumbled.

"I can't read these papers!" Brianne called out to Kathy in a panic. 凯西拨打了911.

Brianne woke up in the hospital, her parents by her side. Right away, she remembered the bar exam.

“今天是什么日子??" she said, sitting up. 她试图下床，但她的左侧身体瘫痪了.

"You had a few strokes," her dad, Jerry, said.

“几个是什么??布里安回答道.

"So far," he said, "13."

起初, 医生们尝试了一种叫做腔内充气的方法来打开血管，帮助更多的血液到达Brianne的大脑. Multiple attempts didn't work.

Brianne needed a cranial bypass, 通过在受损动脉周围重新输送血液来恢复脑部血流的手术. 医生告诉她，手术成功的几率是50%. Brianne said her goodbyes.

小时 later, she woke up with a bandage on her head.

"She's going to be a vegetable," she heard a doctor say.

Brianne began to cry. "Leave the room," her mother told the doctor. "God will decide if and when she walks again.然后她弯下腰，在布里安的耳边轻声说:“你又能走路了。. We're going to get there."

Kathy stayed by Brianne's side night and day. After three months in the hospital, 布里安获得了奖学金，在五个月的沙巴足球体育平台里，每天花四到六个小时在一家强化康复中心恢复活动能力.

起初, she felt depressed and sorry for herself. She curled up in bed, crying, and refused to leave her room. Her father came to see her.

“你要从这张床上爬起来，去健身房，然后走路，”他说.

Brianne起身. 她先走几步，然后拄着拐杖和护腿走路. 当她自己迈出第一步时，她的父亲大声喊叫，工作人员鼓掌欢呼.

在家里，Brianne每天绕着她的死胡同走一圈. Soon, she didn't need the cane or brace.

现在，中风五年多后，Brianne已经独立生活了. 她走路很好，但腿部偶尔有神经痛，左手功能有限. She also has to work harder to read peoples' social cues.

Brianne started dating and she has a long-term partner. 她也在重新学习律师资格，并希望有一天能执业. "That was always in the back of my mind," Brianne said. "I refused to give it up." Her ultimate dream: to open her own firm.

“我以为我再也不会快乐了，这种感觉持续了好几年，”Brianne说. "But it does get better. It's important for survivors to understand that there's hope."

Brianne将她的康复归功于父母的支持和永不放弃.

“如果没有我的父母，我可能还在医院里，蜷缩成一团哭泣，”她说. “让自己置身于一种同情、理解和努力工作的文化中."

咨询也有帮助，凯西补充道——对个人和家庭都是如此. So did Brianne's strong will. "Brianne is very much a go-getter," Kathy said. “从她所在的地方，从我们被告知的情况来看，她走了很长、很长、很长的路. She's a true miracle."

Stories From the Heart 记录心脏病和中风幸存者、护理人员和倡导者的鼓舞人心的旅程.