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College Station teen wins national award, survived a stroke at age 15

Kyler Lewis now helps other kids and teens who are going through the same thing he did. He sends them care packages and talks them through procedures.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — For American Stroke Month, the American Stroke Association released its annual list of Stroke Heroes. The awards honor stroke survivors, health care professionals, and family caregivers. This year's Pediatric Hero was College Station's very own Kyler Lewis. Kyler was a perfectly healthy teenager, with no signs or symptoms of anything until one night everything changed

"I just had a really massive headache. It was a one it was a 10 out of 10 worst headache you could possibly have," Kyler Lewis said. "That was the night I couldn't stop screaming couldn't stop yelling you know all night."

Kyler’s mother, Raylene took him in to see a doctor and what they ended up finding was an egg-sized mass in his brain that caused him to have a stroke at just 15 years old.

“There are some things that we can't control like Kyler’s diagnosis, but there are some things that we can control, which are like spreading awareness and letting people know about pediatric stroke and this condition,” Raylene Lewis said.

So that’s exactly what they did Kyler and his family use social media like Facebook to document his recovery after his stroke in 2020. Kyler also mails pediatric stroke survivors gifts, encourages them in their recovery, and shows them they’re not alone.

“There are procedures like you have to go to the hospital right. And some kids maybe I've never been to the hospital before," Raylene Lewis said. "So they hear these words like MRI and angiogram, and so Kyler since the videos and talks to them and tells them this is what it is, this is the procedure. It's not going to hurt is not going to be scary.”

Typically there is no way of knowing if someone has a brain Arteriovenous Malformation. That’s why it is important to know the signs of stroke so you can be prepared.

“Facial drooping weakness, arm numbness or weakness on one side of the body. As is for speech, slurred speech, or inability to speak. And T is for time. That's the most important one, is time to call 911,” Senior Director of Community Impact with American Heart Association Kassandra Hunt said.

Hunts say if there are any signs of one of those three symptoms then there is a good chance that the person is experiencing a stroke.

After graduation this month, Kyler plans on attending Blinn and then Texas A&M to become a registered nurse so he can help even more people.

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