BEFORE THE STORM: Ryan at age 7; He had a typical childhood , and participated in Cub Scouts, baseball, and piano lessons.

I graduated from high school, I decided to attend Dixie State University in St. George, Utah. During that time, I received a tendon transfer procedure on my left arm and, after recovering from the operation, my arm was somewhat useable for the first time in twelve years." It wasn't until later in life that events began to unfold in even more hopeful ways.

BREAKTHROUGH

“New Hope for Stroke Patients” was the newspaper headline. A friend had found the article in the Denver Post and alerted Ryan. Ryan immediately called about the seminar held in Denver; he was the third person to answer the call for stroke patients. His mother went with him to Denver to attend a workshop on hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Ryan found the seminar very exciting, and it filled him and his family with hope. “I was the second person to sign up for treatment. The positives were that it was safe, effective, and had no side effects, but the downer was that those forty treatments would cost $20,000. And on top of that, I had to do all of the treatments in forty consecutive days.”

Ryan, with new enthusiasm, found a place to stay and settled in for the treatment process. He showed up with headaches, depression, limited use of the left side of his body, and a foggy

brain. The staff thought that his stroke, which had happened fourteen years prior, would not be helped. However, they were willing to give his case a try. Ryan had nothing to lose, and within the first few treatments, his headaches started to fade, the stiffness in his left side relaxed, and he immediately experienced a further improvement when his foggy brain activity disappeared.

This was a revelation to Ryan. “My left ankle had not moved in fourteen years, and within the first two sessions, my ankle started working little by little.” He began to walk better and more steadily and felt that the physical therapy was worthwhile. After he was there for a while and began to feel good about the improvement he was experiencing, he recalls, “I started studying everything I could get my hands on in the clinic that pertained to hyperbaric oxygen. I spent all day at the clinic, helping out where I could. I would talk to patients, do laundry, clean the area, and read everything. I was a sponge, and the brain fog was gone for the first time in a long time, and I could retain what I was reading.”

The clinic owners needed help since this was a startup operation, so they hired two women from Florida. One of the women was a certified hyperbaric technologist with a lot of experience, and the other was a registered nurse. They also happened to be mother and daughter. Ryan, as a patient, naturally gravitated toward them because they were eager to help and willing to teach him more about this new treatment. Most importantly, Ryan noticed that all of the patients going through the program were getting better. Then a true miracle happened for Ryan.

THE BEGINNING OF A MIRACLE

One of Ryan’s most vivid memories at this clinic began when he met a patient who had been shaken violently as a baby and suffered a severe traumatic brain injury. That patient was in a wheelchair and was Ryan’s age – 22 at the time. He could not walk, use his arms, stand on his feet, or feed himself with a knife or fork. He spoke in broken tone patterns that only his mother could understand. “It was tragic and heartbreaking for me to witness his condition and hear that the staff did not think this treatment would help him.”

Within the first few treatments, Ryan's headaches faded, his stiffness relaxed, and he experienced a further improvement when his foggy brain activity disappeared.

To everyone’s amazement, this fellow started to improve. He started swallowing better, making eye contact and talking more clearly. He even began using his arms. Ryan reminisces, “Keep in mind that this was a person who doctors and neurologists had written off. Nobody knew what to do with this guy. In 22 years, he had never improved. I felt for him because nothing had worked for him until that point, like me. In time, he could feed himself and started to speak better. He began smiling. He even recognized me and spoke my name. I was there the day he took his first step… most of us had to compose ourselves. I was forever changed!”