In her early 60s, corporate communications pro Geri Rockstein had a busy, active lifestyle. What happened next—a bad stroke, incredible support from a friend and an amazing recovery—is a powerful and uplifting tale worth reading.
At age 64, Geri Rockstein was going strong. Still working as a corporate communications specialist in Toronto, she was also a daily walker, golfer, traveller, yogi and lover of the arts. She even kept tabs on her octogenarian mother.
Then one day in September 2018, she had a stroke—a severe one. Geri describes the aftermath: “An ambulance took me, unconscious, to the hospital and immediately I was given a clot-busting procedure. My best friend Sue arrived and was taken to the floor where two doctors had just finished with me and walked out of the room. The older doctor, Dr. Daniel Selchen, sat down with Sue. He told her that I had a really bad stroke and he asked what I did for a living. Sue told him, ‘Communications.’ He took her hand and said that life was going to be very hard and frustrating for me and only gave me a one-in-four chance of fully recovering.”
With Sue’s help, though, Geri beat the odds. “Miraculously, I recovered 100 per cent,” she notes. To top that off, she has authored a compelling new book about the experience, called Two Friends – From a Life-Threatening Stroke to a 66 Year-Old Model that has been published by Brick Tower Press of New York. “I was encouraged to write this book about my stroke and my recovery so that I could be a help to everyone who has had a stroke and to families who are caring for stroke victims,” Geri explains. “This is my story that love, friends and family give you hope and inspiration to win back your life.”
The book is available on Amazon, in paperback, for $23.41.
