Erie chiropractor Steve Krauza set off Friday morning on a 140\u2011mile bike ride to Pittsburgh, one year after surviving a stroke at age 47. The long\u2011distance ride, which was postponed for more than a month due to weather, is Krauza\u2019s way of thanking the medical teams at UPMC Hamot and UPMC Mercy who helped save his life.<\/p>\n
Krauza departed from UPMC Hamot at sunrise, surrounded by family, friends and hospital staff cheering him on. The avid cyclist said the moment felt surreal, especially considering where he was one year ago.<\/p>\n
He first realized something was wrong while doing his morning push\u2011ups. Within minutes, he woke his wife and told her he needed to get to the emergency room.<\/p>\n
\u201cI woke my wife up and said, \u2018We gotta go to the emergency room. I think I\u2019m having a stroke,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Doctors at UPMC Hamot later determined he had suffered a cryptogenic stroke \u2014 one without an identifiable cause. Krauza said he had none of the typical risk factors and never imagined he could experience a stroke at his age.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never thought in a million years, at the age of 47\u2026 that I would have had a stroke,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Recovery, he said, was slow and challenging. The physical rehabilitation took time, and the mental recovery was equally difficult. But he credits the care he received at UPMC Hamot for helping him regain confidence and hope.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody was so kind,\u201d he said. \u201cThe entire time, I felt comfortable, I felt safe, and I felt like I was gonna be okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
That support inspired Friday\u2019s ride from Erie to UPMC Mercy in Pittsburgh \u2014 a symbolic thank\u2011you to the doctors, nurses and staff who helped him return to the activities he loves.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of their great care, I\u2019m able to get back to do the things that I love to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Krauza also hopes the ride raises awareness about stroke symptoms and encourages people to seek medical attention immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust because you\u2019re younger, and just because you\u2019re fit doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t have a stroke,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019re no points for bravery if you try toughening it out. It\u2019s just not worth it. Time is the essence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Krauza is expected to arrive at UPMC Mercy later today, where another group of caregivers will be waiting to welcome him. He says the ride is both a celebration of how far he has come and a reminder of how critical quick action can be in saving lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Erie chiropractor Steve Krauza set off Friday morning on a 140\u2011mile bike ride to Pittsburgh, one year after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":269475,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[85204,136,138,137,113640,113641,113639,20383,106871],"class_list":["post-269474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-bike-ride","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news","tag-steve-krauza","tag-stroke-awareness","tag-stroke-survivor","tag-upmc-hamot","tag-upmc-mercy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}