East Texas stroke survivor says family got him through struggle

CARTHAGE, Texas (KLTV) - On Feb. 29, 2024, Jeff McCormick was with his family when his body started to act up.

“I had just gotten up like any normal day. Kind of had a headache that morning, had a cup of coffee, went down and was hanging out with my nieces. We were just sitting there, playing games, and then the next thing I know, my leg has started to fall asleep,” McCormick recalled. “I had never felt my leg fall asleep that hard before. So, I start trying to move it, well then, my arm started to fall asleep, and it felt that really weird tingling feeling. And then my face started to feel funny.”

McCormick, who was 43 years old at the time, said his stepmother informed him he was experiencing a stroke and called an ambulance. Strokes occur when blood flow is hindered to the brain.

“The doctors said that I had a really big hole in my heart. That what probably happened was that over time the blood started to build up behind the hole in my heart, and it shot a clot up to my brain,” added McCormick.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 795,000 people in the United States have a stroke every year.

Comprehensive Stroke Program Director at UT Health Tyler Lisa Hutchison mentioned stroke symptoms can be unclear.

“It’s not like a heart attack where you’re having excruciating chest pain,” Hutchison said. “It can be, well, I’m just all of a sudden dizzy, or I’m having a little blurred vision.”

“Strokes are treatable if you get here in time,” she added. “There is a time window where you can get the big clot-busting drug.”

After being in a wheelchair, McCormick, who lives in Carthage, is walking again. The problems stemming from the hole in his heart have been resolved.

“One of the biggest things that helped me get through this whole process was my family,” McCormick said. “They were what kept me hanging on.”

Hutchison said people experiencing stroke-like symptoms that disappear should get examined by a medical professional.

“A lot of times what happens also is somebody will have stroke-like symptoms and then they’ll go away,” Hutchison said. “That’s called a TIA, a transient ischemic attack. That’s a precursor to a stroke, that’s kind of a warning sign, like you could be having a stroke later on.”

McCormick advised others in similar situations to lean on their families.

“I know it may be hard, especially if you’re like me and you don’t ask for help and you never have. You’ve got to lean on them not just for physical support but for emotional support as well.”

“That’s the biggest thing that kind of helped me realize from the stroke is that life is too short, so start doing what you love to do or what you want to do before it’s too late and you can’t do anything.”