Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 4-24-18

Feature
Mom Warns Others To Get Check-Ups After Son Suffers Stroke On Airplane
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
A week ago, Ms. Joan Thurmond and her son, Jamal, were returning to the United States after visit- ing India. But, what should have been a routine trip turned into a harrowing ex- perience for both of them.
Ms. Thurmond said they were on the airplane talking when Jamal sud- denly said he had a headache.
“I told him to stop talking so much. Then he said he couldn’t move his foot. After that, he couldn’t talk at all. I asked the attendant if there was a doctor aboard the air- plane and there was. The doctor (who was a surgeon) gave him oxygen, an aspirin, and a medical drip. Then
Ms. Joan Thurmond is shown with Jamal during their 12-day vacation in India.
aboard, my son could have died. He was temporarily paralyzed and he spent 7 days in the hospital in Ice- land.”
Ms. Thurmond said her son thought that he was al- right because he does all of the right things. He exer- cises, he’s a vegetarian, and he appears healthy at 52- years-old.
She further said Jamal is a veteran, but he doesn’t have any other health insur- ance. She had to use her credit card to pay the deposit at the hospital. “Even if you are a veteran, you should have personal insurance. My son said he couldn’t afford it, but that’s important.”
She said he was only re- leased because he promised to follow up with a doctor. After Jamal returned to At-
lanta, where he lives, he went to Grady Veteran’s Hospital for further treatment.
“It was such a scary expe- rience. We were at the hospi- tal without any of our luggage and anything else for 7 days,” she said.
Ms. Thurmond said they took the 12-day trip to India because she wanted to see the Taj Mahal. Her son didn’t appear to be ill before they left.
She said Jamal has been diagnosed with having high blood pressure. “I just want to warn other young men to get a physical at least once a year. Men just don’t want to go to the doctor. If it hadn’t been for that doctor, Jamal could have been perma- nently paralyzed or he could have died. Now, I see why they call it the silent killer.”
called ahead and we made an emergency landing in Reyk- javik, Iceland.
“The ambulance was al- ready waiting and we were
taken to the hospital. My son had had a stroke. He told the doctor that he had not had a physical in 21⁄2 years. If the surgeon had not been
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