Meet Ashlyn! A Young Empowered Stroke Survivor!

August 2015, one month before Ashlyn would turn 17, she suffered a series of strokes, the most significant affecting her brain stem. She was hospitalized for 2 months followed by 9 weeks at an inpatient rehabilitation center at Shepherd’s Center in Atlanta. Once home, she received PT, OT, and ST for about 9 months until insurance ran out.

She is in a wheelchair and has overall coordination issues. Her speech is slurred. But her cognitive skills were not impacted. Because Ashlyn needed more therapy than what was covered and provided by insurance, her family financed ongoing therapy at the Center for Recovery and Exercise (CORE) for activity based training and through the NeuroHub receiving OT and ST .

At one point, Ashlyn and her parents were told she would never graduate high school. Well….Ashlyn not only graduated high school but in December 2021 she graduated Seminole State College with honors and plans to go to UCF! Her next goal would be to try to live independently on UCF campus!

Ashlyn’s determination and hard work along with the emotional and financial support from her family have gotten her this far. But, Ashlyn is not done yet! Ashlyn knows she needs to develop her independent living skills to meet her next goal. However, due to parental job losses during COVID and having to finance most of Ashlyn’s therapy out-of-pocket, there just is not the extra funds to cover any additional services.

Ashlyn has shown that she is an empowered and determined young stroke survivor! She has accomplished far more than anyone thought possible and she is ready to accomplish even more!

The YESS Foundation is proud to come along and partner with Ashlyn to provide the necessary therapy to help her gain the skills needed to live independently as a UCF Knight! Helping Ashlyn find her independence and reach her next goal!

YESS You Can make a difference and change a life!