A stroke survivor is using art to heal

[KSTP-TV News, May 26, 2023] In September 2019, Jeannie Bridgeman, a 58-year-old mother of three, suffered a stroke that triggered aphasia — an inability to comprehend or formulate language.

“I felt something was weird,” she recalls. “My arm was kind of numb, but I didn’t really realize anything was wrong until I started to speak, and I wasn’t making any sense at all.”

Bridgeman’s husband Mark realized she was showing symptoms of a stroke and took her to the hospital.

Since then, her life has changed dramatically, transitioning from a job as a controller for a non-profit, to undergoing two years of speech therapy and three years of physical therapy at the Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute.

Bridgeman says creating and displaying her art is a way to reconnect with the world.