Redfield Mayor Roben Brooks never publicly shared her story of surviving a stroke earlier this year until she took the opportunity to present two awards to emergency medical technicians who saved her life.
Brooks became the first patient of Emergency Ambulance Service Inc. personnel to present the St. Michael Award to Keirsten Caldwell and Joshua Robertson on Wednesday morning at EASI’s Fifth Avenue headquarters in Pine Bluff.
Caldwell, an emergency medical technician, and Robertson, a paramedic, sprung to action March 14 when Brooks suffered stroke symptoms at her home.
The techs had no idea why they were called to the office before reuniting with Brooks.
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“I almost teared up, and I’m not an emotional person,” Caldwell said.
The fairly new award, created by EASI operations director Dwayne Aalseth, director of public outreach Nyeshia Aldridge and operations supervisor Clyde McDaniel, is named after the patron saint of emergency medical services. It had been presented internally in recent memory, EASI CEO Josh Bishop said.
“(Crewmembers) have a tough job and they don’t always hear the happy stuff,” Bishop said. “They don’t know what happened once we drop them off.
“It’s a really good thing we’re able to do and let these crews know you’re appreciated and the work and training you put in are being put to practice. It’s a really neat thing we get to do. As much as it means coming from one of us, it means a whole lot more coming from the patient.”
Aalseth said Brooks’ husband Ray wanted Caldwell and Robertson to send her to Arkansas Heart Hospital in Little Rock.
“Our medics said, ‘No, we need to go somewhere else. They don’t do neurological things. They can’t handle a stroke,'” Aalseth said. “She was actually having a stroke. So, they were able to convince her husband and her to go ahead and go to Baptist (Health), and both her cardiologists and neurologists said she wouldn’t be here today walking and talking (otherwise).”
Aalseth said he can’t tell the 71-year-old mayor suffered one, eliciting laughs during the presentation inside a meeting room.
“You look night and day from the time we saw you,” Caldwell said. “Completely night and day.”
Said Brooks: “That’s what everybody said. You know you’re sick when you don’t know how sick you are, but I knew what was happening that time.”
Robertson told Brooks: “Your family played a big role in calling us when they did.” He added he called Baptist as soon as he and Caldwell pulled out of Brooks’ driveway, realizing they were still about 30 minutes away from the hospital.
Wednesday happened to be Robertson’s first day as crew supervisor.
“I’d like to think I had something to do with that,” Brooks quipped.
Brooks said she’d never had such symptoms before but learned her stroke was caused by atrial fibrillation, an abnormal heart rhythm commonly known as AFib. She was first diagnosed with AFib about 2½ years ago when she was critically ill with E. coli in her bloodstream.
She also has an autoimmune disease that, she says, constricts major arteries in the temple and can cause a stroke, but doctors ruled that out as the cause.
“I really didn’t think I was going to make it, but I was worried about being in my PJs,” Brooks said. “I was astute enough to know I don’t need to be in my PJs in front of all these people.”
Brooks recalled March 14 being a normal morning in which she was getting up and making breakfast. She then sat down in the living room when her youngest daughter Beaux came in the room unexpectedly and her sister called to have someone see why her Netflix account was not working.
“So my savior over here, he’s been taking care of (my sister) ever since we got married over 44 years ago,” Brooks said of her husband, who went to check out the Netflix. “My daughter and he went over to see what was going on, and I just all of a sudden had this most bizarre feeling come over me that I never experienced. At first I wasn’t quite sure what was happening, but I knew it had to be something serious. I thought I was going to faint.”
Fortunately for Brooks, she was sitting down. But an excruciating headache, as she described, came over her.
“It was hurting so bad, and I couldn’t feel my face,” she said. “And then I lost use of my left hand, so it fell.”
Beaux – “beautiful” in French, Brooks said – called and asked for the Netflix password, but she was unable to respond clearly.
Beaux came back to the house and picked up the phone, noticing nothing was wrong.
“And then she turned around and looked at me,” Brooks said. “She called her dad and she said, ‘Daddy, something is bad wrong with Momma. You’ve gotta come.'”
Ray Brooks called 911, and EMTs and fire personnel “swarmed in like flies,” Brooks recalled. She still couldn’t see or feel anyone on her left side.
“They are my saviors,” she said, standing next to Caldwell and Robertson. “God gave me the gift of life, and you protected his gift, and I will forever be grateful to EASI. The compassion, I remember that because I remember I didn’t have a family member in the ambulance with me.
“Without you knowing that, you took care of it all and the driver was wonderful by keeping me informed.”
Brooks underwent therapy at Jefferson Regional Specialty Hospital in White Hall and was appreciative of the care she received there.
“They’ll work you,” she said.
Brooks plans to share her story during Redfield’s council meeting Thursday. She had received several calls and well-wishes from those in surrounding communities such as White Hall Mayor Noel Foster.
Because of the quick action of Caldwell and Robertson, Brooks has a story to share.
“They deserve, as well as our Almighty God, all the credit. That’s for sure,” Brooks said.
This story has been updated with minor edits.
