Help Kristin’s Road to Recovery

“You didn’t come this far only to come this far” - Fearless Motivation

We are having this fundraiser for Kristin Armstrong. We hope to meet this fundraising goal so she can receive treatment to further her stroke recovery. Here’s her story:

“The morning of May 31, 2020 I walked down the hall to my bedroom, sat on my bed and immediately felt “ weird.” My whole body went numb from my feet to my head. My dad called 911, I went to the hospital and was told I was having a stroke. My entire life changed. I went from working every day, caring for my nephew and my dog Molly, hanging out with my friends and family and doing every day normal things, to doing nothing. My life literally came to a complete stop. I always thought strokes affected one side of the body or the other. My stroke was in the brain stem. So there is no part of my body that this stroke has not affected:

— Both my feet and legs are numb and weak

— My balance is terrible, but I got to the point where I can walk with a walker, although very slowly

— I lost the fine motor skills to both my hands which prevents me from doing most everything

— Both my arms are numb, weak and heavy

— My eyes have trouble focusing on details making even reading hard

— The spasticity (muscle tightness) is throughout my whole body including my chest which causes me to be short of breath from time to time

— My voice is not the same and my laugh has changed”

Believe it or not, she has come a long way in two years but progress is slowing down. Last fall Kristin, came across a therapy that has shown promise in stroke patients. It’s called cord blood therapy. It takes the healthy blood (stem cells and proteins) from the umbilical cord of healthy born babies and is injected by IV into the patient. This is not a miracle cure. The hope is the recovery process will continue. Unfortunately, this treatment is not done in the United States. She would have to fly to Austria and then eventually on to Slovakia. She has been in touch with the doctors over there for the last few months and she can have the procedure on April 25th and 26th. This is not covered by insurance and is very expensive. She would like to have this therapy in the hopes of achieving a better quality of life and we would like to help her. If she can just get the recovery of even one thing, like the use of one hand or improved balance where she can use a cane, it would be well worth the cost. In fact, it would be priceless.

She has always been there for everyone in her life without hesitation and always with a smile. Please help us give back to Kristin and change her life! Thank you in advance for anything you can give. Your help means more to her than words can ever express.

All funds for this will go for the cost of treatment and help with the cost of travel for herself and a caregiver.