Today is World Stroke Day (or International Stroke Day, or something). During the past years I probably wouldn’t have noticed it at all, but this year everything has changed. My mother suffered a stroke two weeks ago, luckily her prognosis is good and things are slowly improving.

As a first responder, the symptoms of a stroke are familiar, as is the unfortunate knowledge that we really can’t do a thing to help the patient. Recognizing a stroke is the first step in getting urgent care for the patient since the first few hours are critical if thrombolysis is needed.

While strokes aren’t always lethal, they are the third leading cause of death in the Western World. As excess weight, diabetes, high blood pressure etc. increase the risk factor, you can do yourself a favor and go out for a walk. Even 10,000 steps a day will help reduce the risk and think of the photo opportunities a long walk will provide.

On the picture itself, once I realised the other day that this is now a special day, I tried to come up with an idea for a suitable picture. Nothing came to me, so this is a shot of an early flower in one of our flower beds. Don’t ask me what it is, it’s left over from the previous owners.