Avi Golden

3 years ago, Avi Golden underwent elective surgery for his aortic valve prolapse and woke up only saying “Michael, Michael, Michael.”

1 Avi was a critical care and flight paramedic in New York City and decided to repair this hereditary heart condition before attending medical school. After spending almost two weeks in a medically induced coma post-surgery, Avi was woken up by his doctor. He wanted to say, “Thank you, doctor,” but all that came out was “Michael, Michael, Michael.” Noticing the error, Avi tried again, but still could only respond with the repetition of the word “Michael”,  not even knowing who Michael was. His doctor informed him that he endured a stroke during the surgery that resulted in Broca’s aphasia. 

For three months in the hospital, Avi worked with an occupational therapist and physical therapist to improve the damage to his arm and leg. Eventually, Avi progressed from bed rest to walking with a cane, and eventually to walking without assistance. Throughout his recovery, Avi felt very supported by the medical community and their efforts to help him regain his strength and control. When his friends from the EMS, police force, fire station, and ER would come to visit him in the hospital, he still could only tell them “Michael, Michael, Michael.” To this day, Avi continues to work with his speech language pathologist to improve his speech. He has made huge advancements in his communication abilities because of the years of work that he has done. Sometimes, he uses a text-to-talk keyboard to aid with electronic communication. It is difficult for Avi to notice his own improvement but speech pathology students will meet with him every few months and comment on his verbal strides. 

Now, Avi speaks at hospitals and to the EMS community about aphasia. EMS and police do not know much about aphasia, which is why Avi feels it is important to expand the awareness about this communication impediment. Whenever Avi meets new people, he greets them with an explanation of his stroke and aphasia so they understand the reason for his speech pattern. Although a small population of people interpret his speech pattern as cutting them off, 95% of people understand his greeting. Throughout his recovery, his friends and coworkers have learned about stroke and aphasia alongside him, and they can more fully appreciate his circumstances. 

Avi has loved medicine for a long time, but since his stroke, his fascination with the brain has grown. In the future, Avi may attend medical school, but for now he loves to participate in disability sports. He is not a fan of football or baseball, but rather he is excited by activities like skydiving and scuba diving. Within these groups, Avi is able to find a community of people who have also endured difficult rehabilitation and still want to enjoy themselves with friends. 1 or 2 percent of people have complications with the surgery that Avi underwent. Although being one of the few percent could be frustrating, Avi looks at it as the same chance of having any other accidents in life, even ones that could be more life-threatening.