Support Brad Simpson's Stroke Recovery

On Saturday August 31st our best friend Brad Simpson had a stroke. After Nicole rushed him to the ER it was discovered he had a Vertebral Artery Dissection, thus the cause. He has been at Reid Hospital since then. First in Inpatient Care and now in the Acute Rehab Unit. The length of his stay remains unclear at this time. He is fighting through each day, giving it his all tackling his therapy, but as his symptoms flare and subside there are times he feels like that first night all over. If you know Brad, you know how much he gives to his community, friends and family. As Fire Chief, EMS, apart of the New Paris Chamber of Commerce, AppleFest and more, he is always into something. We are asking now of our community, friends and family to give a little something to him and his family. The financial impact is unknown at this time, but as you can image, the medical costs a lone will be significant. It is also unknown how long our friend will remain off work for recovery. As Nicole stays devoted to his side, she will need to be on intermittent leave as well. We know times are hard for all, so if a monetary donation is not possible, please share this with others. We just want to do what we can to help relieve the worry of finances so the focus can remain on getting Brad the best care through his journey of recovery.

The details of Saturday night and time following are below as written by Nicole Simpson: It is with permission from Brad, I will share the following,I know some already know or have heard and some are just finding out, but yes Brad is currently in the hospital at Reid. ** I will try to make this short.

Saturday night I rushed Brad to the Emergency Room. We were at the Cedar for a bite to eat in town since he was on duty. He was fine, being himself, joking around having fun. That changed in an instant as we were leaving. He was dizzy, legs weak, and started to get a headache. We sat him down, and all he could say was something is bad wrong get me to the ER. He couldn’t stand without help. Luckily two Richmond firefighters were there too, Brad had just been talking to them, so I asked them to help me get him in the jeep. Fast forward, they eventually ran tests and we found out the results showed he had a Vertebral Artery Dissection, which cause him to have a stroke. He was admitted to Reid and we have been here ever since.

This type of stroke we were told is rare. It has affected the back of his brain, near the brain stem. It has been a rough and emotional past couple of days. He is unable to walk at this time, he has numbness in his left arm and unable to grip with his left hand. He also gets dizzy after his eyes have been open awhile or he is trying to focus on one thing. Little things exhaust him,like eating. We are still working on a plan with the team of Drs. Physical and Occupational Therapy were in today and stated he will more than likely have to go to a rehab facility after being discharged from the hospital, and the Neurologist has said he will not be returning to work any time soon, he is not thrilled with that but it’s what needs to be done.

This evening he had a pretty good night. He was up a little more at dinner, cracked a couple jokes even, still very weak, has a headache and some neck pain.

I know many people have been reaching out and we greatly appreciate all the love and support. I know some are just finding out and I am sorry, it has been a whirlwind and we are all still trying to process everything ourselves. Please still feel free to message/text. I am trying my best to respond to both Brad’s phone and my phone when I can, and also get everything in order.

Hoping tomorrow we will have more of a plan since it won’t be a holiday and things will open back up. I will try to post updates when I can. Thank you to those who have been reaching out already to check on him. That man is my best friend and I love him more than anything, we’re gonna do what we have to to get him back on his feet! It’s gonna take some time and a lot of patience on his part(we all know that will be a chore for him) but we are going to get there!!