AURORA, Colo. — Peter Ryan can only recall bits and pieces of what happened to him in early April.
“It's kind of all dreamlike to me now,” said Ryan. “I had a front row seat, but I wasn't really aware of what was going on.”
Ryan is a groundskeeper at Aurora Hills Golf Course. He suffered a stroke one month ago while helping with a project on Hole 17.
“I was standing here talking to one of my colleagues and I didn't feel well at all,” said Ryan. “I didn't know what was going on and so I sat down. In my head I was speaking, but I guess what was coming out was just gibberish. The biggest thing I remember is nurse Devin telling me to move my right foot and he was screaming at me."
"No, I was just talking,” said Devin Groves, a nurse with UCHealth. He can laugh about it now, but back in April, Groves was more focused on saving Ryan’s life.
"For every minute we waste not getting Pete the proper treatment, that's two-million brain cells that are dying,” said Groves. We can't afford to let that happen."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every 40 seconds, someone in the U.S. has a stroke. The longer it takes to get medical treatment, the harder it is to survive a stroke.
Groves said before bringing Ryan to the hospital, they brought the hospital to Ryan with UCHealth's Mobile Stroke Unit.
"We carry certain equipment such as an entire CT scanner in the back of an ambulance,” said Groves.
Nearly everything they need to diagnose and treat a stroke patient is inside the Mobile Stroke Unit.
“This special ambulance allows people to start receiving blood clot-busting medication immediately without having to wait,” said Alli Witzman, a spokesperson for UCHealth. “This reduces the chances of speech issues, and mobility in people’s legs and arms.”
"Pete is a perfect example of someone who is walking away from a stroke with zero deficits because of this truck,” said Groves.
On Thursday, Ryan and Groves reunited for the first time since Ryan’s stroke.
“I am so appreciative of what you guys did,” Ryan told Groves.
“You're a totally different person standing in front of me today,” replied Groves.
Life is full of surprises. What could have ended in tragedy is now, surprisingly, a fond memory.
“It surprises me — it's like, ‘Wow, I had a stroke and I feel no ill effect right now at all,’” said Ryan.
Because of the quick medical treatment he received, Ryan is already planning to return to work this fall.
UCHealth has two mobile stroke units. One in Colorado Springs, which Witzman said launched in February, and the other in Aurora. Witzman said they launched that unit in 2016 when there were only three in the entire nation. Groves said the Aurora unit responds to more than a dozen stroke cases every month.
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