Nurse practitioner's quick action saves community garden pioneer
By Diane Daniel, American Heart Association News
Like most days, Joyce Moty was planning to visit Bradner P-Patch, 这是她在西雅图家附近的布拉德纳花园公园帮助创办的社区花园.
Moty is a fixture there – and a pioneer.
In the 1990s, 她是一群社区活动人士中的一员，他们通过扩建社区花园和公园，帮助保护这片土地免受开发，并将其作为开放空间保存下来.
On this July morning, Moty's day started oddly. For an hour or so, she couldn't move her right arm. She brushed it off. Maybe she'd slept on it. 她仍然设法用一只手吃早餐和上网看报纸.
接着，79岁的莫蒂试着为花园记账. Trying to calculate some payments, the arithmetic confused her. Frustrated, she stopped, assuming her brain fog would dissipate.
She was due to meet a friend for a picnic lunch at Bradner. Moty planned to pick up sandwiches at a deli. 但当她打电话给她的朋友讨论他们的订单时，她不记得熟食店的名字了. She also stumbled on her words. Her friend waited patiently for Moty to get her message across.
Soon after, she felt normal again.
Before getting lunch, 莫蒂开车去公园，在他们计划使用的野餐帐篷上贴了一张预订通知. She filled it out, 她把它粘在避难所上，正要往回走，这时她看到了她的朋友兼园丁帕梅拉·威廉姆斯.
Moty animatedly told Williams about her day so far. But her sentences came out chopped and nonsensical. The right side of her face drooped.
威廉姆斯是一名执业护士，她立刻怀疑她的朋友中风了.
她拉着莫蒂的胳膊说:“乔伊斯，你的话毫无意义. You need to go to the hospital."
在医院里，检查显示莫蒂的大脑里有一个血块. 医生们能够进行一种叫做血栓切除术的手术来清除血栓，恢复血液流动.
The next morning, a handful of therapists visited Moty to test her movement, cognitive functioning, balance and speech. 她没有中风造成的缺陷，第二天早上就出院了. Her doctor told her how lucky she was.
Seeking further explanation, doctors did more tests. 他们发现莫蒂的心脏有轻微的心房扑动，这可能是导致中风的原因. 医生给她开了血液稀释剂和降胆固醇药物作为预防措施.
莫蒂将她的好运归功于健康的生活方式，除了经常园艺外，她还每周和朋友散步5英里. And for being in the right place at the right time, 尤其是她没有注意到手臂无力和口齿不清等警示信号.
“我很幸运，帕梅拉发现了我的症状，并知道沙巴足球体育平台是至关重要的，”她说.
Williams was honored to help.
"Joyce is an inspiration and a role model," she said. “我们很多人都对她保护自然和开放空间的工作感到亲切."
True to form, 具有社区意识的莫蒂在一封超过4人的电子邮件中分享了她的故事,000 Seattle urban gardeners, with a link to the warning signs of a stroke.
“我想让他们知道，中风可能发生在任何人身上，以及如何识别这些迹象，”她说. “但我也想告诉他们，社区花园是如何救了我的命."
现在，近两年过去了，莫蒂仍然积极地散步、瑜伽，当然还有园艺.
Stories From the Heart 记录心脏病和中风幸存者、护理人员和倡导者的鼓舞人心的旅程.