Surviving Stroke Becomes Team Effort

By John Kelly
Tuesday, May 22, 2007

A lot of people helped save Tom Shaw's life in December after he suffered a stroke at the AMC Loews Shirlington movie theater.

There was the theater's manager. She called 911. There were the paramedics. They rushed him to Inova Alexandria Hospital. There were the doctors and nurses at the hospital. They cleared the blockage in his brain.

Tom thanked them all. But there's someone he wasn't able to thank, the person who might be the most important.

Tom had gone on a Tuesday to a 2:15 p.m. screening of "Copying Beethoven," a film about the German composer's Ninth Symphony. The Alexandria resident took his seat just as the previews were starting.

"Immediately when I sat in my seat, the stroke occurred," said Tom, 60. "Everything was like a landslide. The right half of my body just gave down."

He tried to lift his right leg, but it seemed to weigh a ton.

Tom runs a health-care marketing company, and he knew instantly what had happened: An artery somewhere was obstructed, robbing his brain of oxygen-rich blood. He also knew that if he couldn't get to a hospital equipped to treat stroke within three hours, his chances of surviving with his brain intact were slim.

Tom had noticed when he sat down that only three other people had decided to see "Copying Beethoven" that day. He wondered if the cleaning crew might find him after the film was over.

He shifted in his seat and, as luck would have it, two women were seated directly behind him. Now if he could just communicate with them.

"I'm what you call a neck breather," Tom told me. Throat cancer robbed him of his larynx in 1999. He speaks by covering a hole in his throat with his right hand. With that hand out of commission, Tom covered the hole with his left and murmured, "I need medical help. Can you get the manager?"

One of the women rushed off and returned with manager Messelu Weysa. Who was that movie patron? Tom doesn't know, but he's understandably grateful that she went to see "Copying Beethoven" on that particular day and sat in that particular seat.

"I want to at least see that woman again if I could and thank her," he said. (Is it you? E-mail me at kellyj@washpost.com or give me a call at 202-334-5129.)

I asked Tom if he'd been scared by his stroke. Not really, he said. He'd survived two rounds of cancer after all. Instead, the experience was like a race. A clock had started ticking at 2:15 -- when the coming attractions began -- and so he counted from there, hoping that he'd be treated by 5:15. He sneaked glances at the paramedics' watches as they strapped him to the gurney.

"I was so focused on the time, to beat the time," he said. "It was a competition for me."

He made it to the hospital in no time, where the cardiovascular and interventional radiology team cleared multiple blood clots and administered the clot-busting drug TPA. After just four days in the hospital, Tom went home. Any lasting side effects?

"No," he said. "People ask me that when they see me, and I jokingly tell them that the only thing they found is that my IQ went up 20 points, and it was a stroke of genius. I felt like I walked away from a plane crash."

And what about the movie, which The Post's critic said was "completely beguiling"? Did Tom ever see "Copying Beethoven"?

"I went back to the theater to thank the manager, and she gave me a free pass, but the movie was gone," he said. "But I did get to rent the DVD a couple weeks ago. It was okay."

Signs of Stroke

In case you hadn't noticed, May is American Stroke Month. According to the American Stroke Association, you should call 911 immediately -- or ask someone else to -- if you experience any of these symptoms:

Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body. Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding. Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes. Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination. Sudden, severe headache with no known cause.

My e-mail: kellyj@washpost.com.