GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — "I woke up and I couldn't talk, or walk, or get out of bed and then I realized that something was wrong," said Ariyana James, a student-athlete from East Lansing who suffered a sudden stroke in August.
The stroke impacted her ability to walk and talk, but her recovery has impressed the therapists and staff at Mary Free Bed who saw her go home on Saturday.
"I was running a lot and then I couldn't feel my legs and then I went to sit down and then I started throwing up," said Ariyana.
She recalled being taken to the hospital after becoming ill while working out. Doctors discovered she had suffered a stroke and had blood clots in her lungs due to complications from COVID-19.
The third-ranking high jumper in the state, and the top-50 for basketball, Ariyana described the difficulty of her body being unable to move in the ways she has trained it for so long.
"It was hard not like doing things I didn't think about doing, like walking and running and going to the bathroom," said Ariyana. "I haven't had to think about that before."
Being transferred to Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids, Ariyana then began undergoing physical therapy and speech therapy. The starting line for a race only she can win.
"I'm able to be more independent now, like, I can take showers and do normal things, and I'm able to walk and talk clearly, better," said Ariyana. "That's a positive, and I'm able to move my right hand more. I wasn't really able to move a lot. So that's been a big thing."
Ariyana's pediatric physical therapist said while she has seen them before, strokes in kids are not common and the ways strokes present themselves are different for every person.
"When kids come in they're used to being a high level. This, I mean, this is detrimental," said Rhianna Hart, the physical therapist who has been working with Ariyana. "Being able to kind of look back and say, 'Last week we weren't even standing by yourself and now you're running.' I mean that's a huge sort of win."
Her speech-language pathologist said they worked with each other almost every day and saw her speech go from being 70% understandable, to now being able to understand every word.
"She would do things outside of our therapy sessions to continue to improve. She was always open to the recommendations that I had. She was just a joy, and I can see that her hard work on the basketball court came into our speech therapy sessions," said Grace Kropiewnicki.
Taking her back home to East Lansing, Ariyana's parents are confident this experience will make her into an even brighter star and and off the court.
"For her to see this and be a teenager, I think this is a significant experience that, like I told her, affected the rest of her life as far as how she approaches the sports now," said Ashley James, Ariyana's mother. "I think the purpose behind playing now is greater, and her voice is going to be stronger for athletes that may have this crisis."
Ariyana said it has been her faith, family, teammates and the staff at Mary Free Bed who have been able to help her get to where she is now.
When asked how she was able to keep being positive during such difficulty, Ariyana pointed to her faith.
"I think God and prayer," said Ariyana. "Knowing that I was gonna be okay was what made me happy and then I kept getting through it."
With more of the road to recovery still in front of her, Ariyana looks to be able to slowly get back on the court and is hoping to make quite the comeback.