29 February 2024
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — In November 2017, a stroke almost cost Debi Devor-Mullins her life.
“I started having this really weird headache and clenching my teeth,” Devor-Mullins recalled.
She ignored the signs.
“On Monday, I was sitting at my desk, and I started smelling something burning. No one else smelled it,” she said.
All of a sudden, she felt a pop.
“It was like a rubber band, and that was my artery. It dissected,” she said. “I’d had a blood clot, and it had gone through.”
The artery dissection was inoperable.
“Every blood clot would cause my face to mess up, and it would cause another little stroke,” she said.
A month later, on Christmas, another stroke put her in the hospital.
“My hands were contouring, my face was contouring, and everything was. So, I just looked at my dad. My dad and my girls were there, and I said, just pray,” Devor-Mullins said.
She credits faith for sparing her life.
Six years later, Devor-Mullins still lives with the effects. She had to relearn basic skills like writing and sewing.
“Very disheartening at times and frustrating, and that’s probably really when I started giving myself more grace,” she described.
Now, she volunteers with the American Heart Association. The nonprofit focuses on raising awareness and helping survivors share their stories.
“To show people in our community that it can happen to them. They’re not too young, they’re not too old, and they’re not exempt from heart disease or stroke because they think they live a healthy life,” said Krystle Sherrell Steedm, AHA communications Director.
AHA also helps fund scientific research to combat the disease.
Devor-Mullins hopes her story will inspire people to act quickly when they see the signs.
“You just might be stubborn and not want to recognize it. Don’t do that because it could have really totally cost me my life. I wouldn’t be here right now. I am just here by grace,” she said.
Grace that keeps her heart beating.