If you live in the Poconos or are here on vacation, you want to know that quality healthcare is around if you need it. An emergency can strike at any time, to anyone whether you're visiting one of our Pocono resorts or are the one running it.

As general manager of Kalahari Resorts and Conventions in the Pocono Mountains, Don Pleau is used to making important decisions.

“A lot of engagement with the team, engagement with the guests, walking the entire campus, and making lots of decisions like anyone who runs a very large organization,” he explained.

But in November 2018, Don made his most important decision yet. One that saved his life.

It all started when he woke up in the middle of the night, nauseous and sweating. The room was tumbling. He thought it might be food poisoning. Don managed to fall back asleep and went to work the next day.

He recalled, “and as the day progressed, I kept feeling worse. My balance was off. It was hard for me to walk straight. I started to develop a headache and the whole day felt very nauseous.”

He eventually made it to the emergency room at St. Luke's Monroe Campus in Bartonsville with his wife, Tracy, by his side.

“I remember just briefly being in the triage room and the next thing I remember was waking up in the emergency room. The emergency room doctor was standing over the bed looking at me and said, ‘well Don, we know what's wrong with you.’ I said ‘okay, good.’ He said I had a stroke,” Don recalled.

Don spent five days in the hospital, then was transferred to the Comprehensive Stroke Center in Bethlehem, where he met Dr. Oselkin.

“When I saw Don's imaging and heard about how he was presenting, I knew we were dealing with a pretty big emergency,” said Dr. Martin Oselkin, neurointerventional radiologist, St. Luke's University Health Network.

Dr. Oselkin says stroke is the fifth leading cause of death and the leading cause of disability in America. Signs of stroke include facial drooping, arm weakness, trouble speaking or seeing, and loss of balance. Major risk factors include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, and diabetes. Age and lifestyle may also play a role. But anyone can suffer from a stroke, so it's important to keep up with routine doctor appointments and act fast if something feels off.

“Typically, the patient will not know that they're having a stroke. It is a family member, friend, coworker, or bystander. It's important everyone recognizes the signs of a stroke so you can get help right away. The quicker you get to the hospital, the better your chances are for survival,” Dr. Oselkin advised.

Ater 11 days at St. Luke's, Don walked out with a second chance at life. But his journey was just beginning. He had to re-learn how to walk, talk, and re-gain basic skills. Physical therapy became his lifeline.

“Slowly but surely those processes came back. It was in the wintertime, and we would go to the Kalahari Resort where I work and walk up and down the hallways. I would start to take my walker, push it in front of me, and take two or three steps on my own without the walker. Finally, one day my wife says, ‘just give me that thing and walk on your own’,” Don said.

Don immediately changed his lifestyle and diet, healthy habits he continues today.

“I didn't know anything about stroke. My symptoms were not normal. The thought of being on a walker or in a wheelchair for the rest of my life was intolerable for me. It just couldn't happen. I couldn't imagine my life being taken away from me like that, so I had to find a way to get back,” he said.

Back and better than before, for his family at home and Kalahari.

“Some people don't always recover but Don was very fortunate that he had a remarkable recovery,” Dr. Oselkin explained.

“You can survive and have your life back. But to do it, you must work very hard and be very diligent to change the things about your life that are going to put you at risk,” Don added.

And the decision to turn devastation into determination.