两次幸存者泰迪·布鲁希仍在努力提高人们对中风的认识

前美国国家橄榄球联盟球星泰迪·布鲁希在过去的14年里向人们展示了中风幸存者能做的事情:继续打职业橄榄球, climb Mount Kilimanjaro, run the Boston Marathon.

Now Bruschi is showing what a two-time stroke survivor can do.

Bruschi had his second stroke on July 4. Since then he's run a 7-mile road race, 在NFL赛季的每个周日，他都会出现在ESPN的“NFL倒计时”节目中.

Bruschi became a runner after retiring from football. He'd already started Tedy's Team to raise stroke awareness. Based in Boston, 该组织利用该市著名的马拉松比赛来帮助传播信息并为研究筹集资金，这才说得通. And it only made sense for the founder to join them.

Supporting the cause wasn't the only reason. Bruschi also wanted to remain as healthy as possible.

在他第一次中风时，他的身体状况非常好，这是他八个月后就能重返NFL的一个重要原因. 他认为继续保持体形可能有助于避免第二次中风.

作为一名前后卫，他有一个完美的理由:“防守是我的工作."

“从来没有百分之百的保证可以预防中风，”他说. “但我想，如果这种事再次发生，我会做好准备."

In April, Bruschi finished his third Boston Marathon. 他的三枚奖牌与他在新英格兰爱国者队赢得的超级碗戒指数量相当.

7月4日，他从家里跑了3.5英里到儿子们就读的高中. 他的妻子海蒂、14岁的儿子但丁和17岁的儿子雷克斯开车去那里接他锻炼.

Tedy arrived first. He spent about 10 minutes cooling off and remaining loose. Once his family arrived, 他伸手拿起一个网袋，里面装着轻便的阻力带. He grabbed the bag's straps with both hands. Only his right arm came up.

"What's going on?" he said.

The words came out garbled. His wife and sons looked at him. They noticed the left side of his face drooping.

因为他们参与了泰迪的团队，每个人都意识到发生了什么. 面部下垂、手臂无力和说话困难都是睡眠不足的警告信号 BE FAST acronym promoted by the organization.

"I had no freakout period at all," he said. "My concern was more about my sons being there."

Heidi called 911. 在救护车里，泰迪的手指恢复了知觉，他的语言能力也开始好转. 当他们到达医院的时候，海蒂注意到他的脸没有那么下垂了.

He suffered a transient ischemic attack, known by the acronym TIA. 它也被称为“警告性中风”，因为它可能是更严重疾病的前兆.

The TIA caused no damage. He underwent extensive testing in search of what caused it. There was no definitive answer. 最大的发现涉及轻微的蛋白质缺乏，现在正在通过药物治疗来解决.

"For a guy who always wants answers, I'm OK with it," he said. "They told me my heart's good, my vessels are good, my cholesterol is fine, I'm in great shape and I have a high level of fitness. So now I take a blood thinner and …"

He paused, laughed, and added, "No more football comebacks."

Bruschi's first stroke hit in February 2005, nine days after his third Super Bowl championship, and just two days after playing in the Pro Bowl. At 31, he figured his poor balance, 一只眼睛失明和严重的头痛都是足球造成的.

Further tests showed he had a blood clot in his brain. 这是一种由先天缺陷引起的缺血性中风 patent foramen ovale这是心脏上的一个洞，应该在出生后闭合，但没有. 很多人都有这种病，像他一样，直到中风之类的事情发生时才发现. Doctors fixed his via surgery.

Before Bruschi's first game back in the NFL, as he stood in the tunnel waiting to be introduced, he felt waves of emotion. Similar feelings washed over him on Aug. 18日，在他第二次中风后的六个星期，他站在法尔茅斯公路赛的起跑线上.

"I was thinking, 'I'm back again. This is comeback 2.0.'"

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