Bob Nichols (Stroke Survivor; Anchor WPEC-TV, West Palm Beach,
Florida)
It was probably one of the scariest things that could ever happen
to somebody. I had just turned 30 years old. Out of nowhere --
it happened! I wound up laying on a gurney inside an emergency
room of a hospital. Then I woke up finally, and I realized that
I can’t use my left side, I couldn't communicate so that somebody
could understand me, and I just thought my life is over. It’s
the most frightening thing in the world. Especially if you are
a broadcaster who has been working in the business for over 15
years and that’s all you know, and now you can’t even talk. It’s
absolutely petrifying! After the initial feelings of not wanting
to go on, you realize that there are people who care about you
and there are things that you can still do and be the person that
you want to be, IF you have the determination. Once that determination
is made, then you go to work and do it. And, it took me a long
time---almost two years of solid, constant therapy. During that
time, my therapy was twelve hours a day, six-to-seven days a week
for my hand, my arm, and my leg. Now, we do one or two hours a
day, two or three times a week.
