Sunday, Dec 2, 2012
Garza County News

Courtesy Photo

Adam Smith, now a Post Antelope, is shown here as a member of the Archer City Wildcats in 2010.

BASH to Help Child Stroke Victims

All invited to Adam Smith's 18th Birthday Party

Published March 14, 2012 @ midnight

This Friday, Adam Smith's family is holding a party to celebrate his 18th birthday and everyone's invited.

Why?  Because Adam is a surviving victim of a cerebral stroke and has a passion for helping others. The event will benefit the Cook Children's Hospital of Fort Worth, Texas, and bring awareness to the possibility of strokes in young people.

The F.A.S.T B.A.S.H. is Friday, March 16 at the at the Post Community Center, 113 W. Main Street.  Hot dogs, birthday cake and drinks will be served from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.  The ANE Pediatric Stroke Foundation will be there with an information booth.

Instead of gifts for Adam, he asks that you bring a new stuffed animal for kids at Cook's Children's Hospital.

Adam is the son of Steve and Regina Smith and older brother to Bryan, Colton (Bull) and Zach.  The Smith family moved to Post less than a year ago when Steve accepted the Athletic Director/Head Football Coach position for the Bold Gold athletic department.  They lived in Archer City when Adam suffered the stroke.

It was in October of 2010, when Adam was just 16 years old, that he went to a Wichita Falls emergency room and was diagnosed with a migraine headache.  The doctors there wanted to observe him over night.  But Adam's mom, Regina Smith, was not satisfied and had a hunch that it was more than a migraine that was troubling her son.  So she asked the ER nurses if they knew "what the symptoms were of stroke or if they knew the acronym (FAST) and they did not."  She then informed them what F.A.S.T. stands for:
F -  FACE, ask the child to smile.  Does the smile droop to one side?
A - ARMS - Ask the child to raise their arms.  Is there difficulty or weakness on one side?
S - SPEECH - Ask the child to repeat a simple sentence.  Are the words slurred or is there difficulty in repeating?
T - TIME - If the child shows any of these symptoms time is critical - Call 911.

Regina explained that "many medical professionals do not know the symptoms to look for in stroke or that children have strokes and that it is much more common than you think."

The misdiagnosis could have been tragic.  Regina explained receiving "the life saving drug he needed to prevent brain damage almost passed the time thresh hold." That miracle drug, tPA (tissue plasminogen activator), that dissolved the blood clot and saved his life, costs $10,000 a shot.

Adam's been successfully recuperating ever since to the point of participating in many school activities.  This past basketball season, he was able to play on the junior varsity team.  He is an inspiration to many.

Come celebrate life at the F.A.S.T BASH.

 
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