Sara Brown, a Corewell Health pharmacy supervisor, suffered a stroke on January 4, caused by an occluded artery, leaving her with an inoperable blood clot that altered her speech, comprehension, and mobility. According to the American Heart Association, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds.

Brown underwent her first surgery on January 5 to remove a bone flap, followed by a second surgery on April 29 to replace that portion of her skull. Occupational therapist Lanae Dekryger at Mary Free Bed noted that initially, Brown required total assistance from one to two people for all self-care tasks.

Just days after her second surgery, Brown is making progress in relearning how to walk and talk. Her husband, Erik, mentioned that she essentially had to start from scratch. Erik has been a significant part of her support system, along with their two young children. He even got a tattoo of Sara's heartbeat from her time in the ICU, designed to blend with her surgical scar.

Brown's progress has been remarkable, as Dekryger highlights, noting the transition from needing total assistance to requiring less than 25% help to function and care for herself. Brown embodies the message on her t-shirt: "Super Sara Strong."