Maureen Adams died and came back to life.

For that, the 琉璃神社 single mom is thankful to have a second chance to raise her teenage son and for the existence of BrainTrust Canada to help her cope with the demands of daily life.

鈥淏efore my health issues came up, I didn鈥檛 even know what BrainTrust Canada was,鈥� said Adams.

鈥淣ow they are helping me to regain my confidence and get through the learning curve of adapting to a whole new life.鈥�

Adams is telling her story now in support of Giving Tuesday, a global movement held Nov. 28 to encourage giving and volunteering in the consumer oriented aftermath of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Giving Tuesday is meant to harness the potential of social media and the generosity of people around the world to bring about real change in their communities, to provide a platform to encourage the donation of time, resources and talents to address local challenges.

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For Adams, her life changed on June 19 of last year when she suffered a stroke, after complaining to her son following a walk that something wasn鈥檛 right with her and he should call an ambulance.

Adams ended up technically dying, was worked on by medical staff for 45 minutes, and brought back to life.

鈥淲hen I died, somebody over wherever there is, said I wasn鈥檛 done yet and sent me back. I didn鈥檛 see a white light or have an out of body experience. There are no words to describe what I went though, just that it was awfully pretty and beautiful.

鈥淢y guess is it was because of my youngest boy, who is 12, and that I owe it to him to finish raising him to be a good man like his older brothers are.鈥�

A week later, she suffered a brain bleed that led her to be induced into a coma and flown to Vancouver for further treatment.

鈥淚 woke up from the coma scatter-brained and totally blind,鈥� Adams recalled.

As a result of those two medical trauma events, her second chance at life came with some drawbacks. The right side of her body is constantly numb and she is still undergoing surgery for her eyesight.

鈥淢y left eye is visually challenged and my right eye I can鈥檛 see anything at all but I have a surgery scheduled for Dec. 13 regarding my right eye so we鈥檒l see what happens,鈥� she said.

Unable to work or drive a vehicle due to her disability, Adams says BrainTrust has helped her reorganize her life, providing assistance with her son鈥檚 schooling and encouraged her to push ahead despite dealing with short-term memory loss.

鈥淭hey have programs that are helpful to me, and they are in touch with me two, sometimes three times a week,鈥� Adams said.

鈥淲ith organizations like BrainTrust, if we are healthy we don鈥檛 think about them perhaps because we don鈥檛 need them ourselves until you suddenly find yourself unexpectedly walking down that road.鈥�

To report a typo, email: edit@kelownacapnews.com.

barry.gerding@blackpress.ca
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