Episode 068 -- Remembering Mark French

Last July, Mark French joined me on Strokecast to share his stroke story and talk about his new film, A Teachable Moment. It tells the stories of four Washington, DC, area stroke survivors as they navigate the new world of stroke recovery. Mark was one of the featured survivors, as was Anne Daily who I spoke with in Episode 14 about making the shift key her bitch.

It also features doctors and fantastic animations that explain stroke in a simple and understandable way.

The film is an hour long and available on Amazon Prime Video. You can learn more at http://ATeachableMoment.Film.

Mark had his severe hemorrhagic and ischemic strokes in May of 2015 caused by AFib (or Atrial Fibrillation) and went on to make an amazing recovery.

Four years to the day, in May of 2019, he suffered another stroke (or series of strokes). Sadly, this time he didn't make it.

My heart goes out to the French family, the team at LAI Video (here's their tribute to Mark), and all the folks who made A Teachable Moment possible.

Lessons

I don't know all the details; from outward appearances, Mark was doing everything right. Sometimes, that's not enough. Even among folks here are doing everything right, there are still strokes. Roughly 20% of strokes have no known cause. Roughly 20% are also fatal.

Stroke is not a vaccine; getting one doesn't guarantee you won't have another.

For those of us who survive, and those around the survivor, stroke e a powerful wake up call. Our time on this Earth is limited. And we don't know when our time is up.

What are you going to do with your remaining days?

This episode is largely a clip show. I went back to my conversation with Mark from last summer and pulled out some key things he said that I feel get to the heart of his story, his message, and his legacy of driving Stroke awareness.

A Teachable Moment Trailer

 

BE FAST

 

Hack of the week

With use of only one hand, getting ice cubes out of an ice cube tray can be difficult.

My new strategy is to grab the end of the tray with my usable hand and smack the bottom on the counter. It may take 2 or 3 tries, but this usually pops the ice cubes free. Then I can lift them out with my fingers.

Links

LAI Remembers Mark French	https://www.laivideo.com/blog/remembering-mark-french
A Teachable Moment	http://ATeachableMoment.Film
What is AFib?	http://Strokecast.com/Afib
Stroke Smart Article on A Teachable Moment	http://www.strokesmart.org/stroke-documentary
LAI Video on Twitter	https://twitter.com/LAIvideo
Mark French on Strokecast	http://Strokecast.com/Mark
Anne Dailey  on Strokecast	http://Strokecast.com/Anne
Request a Screening	https://www.ateachablemoment.film/host-a-screening/

Where do we go from here?

• Next time you use an ice cube to chill a beverage, raise a glass to Mark French and all the others taken from us too soon by stroke.
• Check out LAI Video's tribute to Mark here.
• Talk to your Doctor about AFib and other risk factors.
• Watch and share A Teachable Moment with other folks you know so more people can benefit from Mark's legacy.
• Don't get best…get better.

Here is the latest episode of The Strokecast