Manuel Bidarra, a previous stroke patient at Soin Medical Center, threw the first pitch at the May 20 Dayton Dragons game as part of Strike Out Stroke.
Manuel, a foreign exchange student from Portugal, was brushing his teeth one morning when he started experiencing stroke symptoms: he couldn’t move his arm or hand, his leg gave out, the whole left side of his body went numb, and he began slurring his speech.
His host family took him to the emergency department at Soin Medical Center, where he was stabilized. He is now working through his recovery and hopes to one day become a neurologist.
Kettering Health Network employees were also on the plaza outside Fifth Third Field before the game, teaching community members how to spot a stroke F.A.S.T. (face drooping, arm weakness, speech slurred, time to call 911).