MUSKEGON, Mich. — At one point, Kiwi Edwards of Muskegon had no feeling on the left side of her body.
"I was paralyzed and my whole left side, so I had to relearn how to do all that over again," said Edwards.
In 2011 while living in Las Vegas, doctors found a mass of blood vessels in her brain that didn't form correctly, in 2018, those vessels burst during a surgery causing Edwards to have a stroke.
Edwards now has a special pump that's helping her regain strength on the left side. She's been working with physical therapists at Mary Free Bed's outpatient facility in Muskegon.
"I'm pretty strong when it comes to those situations," said Edwards. "So I just kept going, kept that positive attitude. And that's how I was able to get come this far."
Although Psychical Therapist Rebecca Kelly has only worked with Kiwi once, and she's impressed with the progress made.
However, Kelly said, recovery from a stroke isn't a quick process.
"In a lot of ways after you have a stroke rehab is at least on and off again a life long process because things change as you age and time goes on," said Kelly.
For Edwards, she said she didn't ask for a stroke, but adds, she's grateful that it happened.
"My vision is more clear," said Edwareds. "I was always independent and doing things positive, but like I say, life has its way of taking you through things to see where your mistakes are at and get you where you need to be to fix them, so it kind of saved my life."
Edwards also said that she hopes to use the experience of her stroke and rehab to be an advocate for stroke survivors.
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