Let’s help Zach Schroll get back on his feet

Some of you may know the struggles that Zach has been going through lately. He was diagnosed with a heart condition called HOCM a few years ago. He’s been living with this condition easily until now. Recently, he was diagnosed with afib which when mixed with his current heart condition is much worse. He has suffered going in an out of afib often over the last few months. He has also been in and out of work for the last few months. This in itself has caused a financial struggle. Things were looking up when Zach started with a new truck company he loves. He felt like he was finally going to get caught up and getting his afib under control when one of the worst things happened.

On Thursday night/early Friday morning Zach suffered from a large stroke. Thankfully he had been in Lakewood for the day to see his cardiologist and have his cardiac ablation scheduled for Thanksgiving week. However, he was home alone and was unconscious for a large amount of time. When he came to he knew what was happening to him and thankfully had his phone close by and managed to get a call off to his girlfriend Danielle as well as myself, my sister and my mom. On my way to my moms I called Lakewood EMS and they were there in minutes.

Once he arrived at Fairview they ran multiple CT scans to locate the clots that had traveled from his heart to his brain. He immediately went into surgery after this. They were able to successfully remove the clot from his brain and thankfully do it without causing any more damage. The side of his brain effected was the right side. Thankfully it was not the side that effected his personality, emotions and just overall who he is… Trust me he was joking same day! That’s just our Zachy! Sometimes he can be funny This did however effect the left side of his body. He has left sided weakness that hopefully will be recovered with PT and therapy.

Once out of his procedure I was able to see him and talk to him and help the nurses test him. He was able to move his arm/leg on his left side and squeeze your hand but he was unable to feel touch. Once stable about an hour after his procedure he was transferred to Cleveland Clinic Main Campus to the Neurological ICU. By the time he arrived there he began to be able to feel touch on his left side. By that evening he was getting stronger and stronger. He was able to lift his left arm and leg longer and longer. I think a lot of that was because he could see his girlfriend Danielle. She is a source of strength for him and it is wonderful to see how much they love each other.

Our Mom and Zach’s other sister Vanessa were in Aruba when this occurred. Mom rushed home and was able to be with Zach first thing Saturday morning. She has been with him for days straight. Helping him work up the courage/strength to eat and he is improving every hour. Last night (Sunday) he was able to finally test himself out enough to sit in a chair for about an hour and a half. The staff in ICU has been incredible. We are hoping he will be able to be transferred to the step down unit soon!

This will be a long road for him back to the strength he previously had. There will be physical as well as mental therapy and rehab. Those of you who know Zach know he’s an absolute beast who can do anything he sets his mind to. And getting back to “normal” is something he has set his mind to. He will get there.

We cannot express how thankful we are that he and his brain are so young and able to recover better than most. We cannot express how thankful we are to still have our Zach. He is going to be out of work for some time. There’s no exact time table for his recovery and everything is still a little bit up in the air. If you can give anything to help out I know Zach and all of his family would be so thankful!

Love to all - Brittany