Red for a Reason
Walkabout: PI
Happenings in the Star City
“Going Red” for women’s heart disease awareness has a special meaning for a young woman from Presque Isle. Sarah Porter joined in the “Go Red” movement on Friday, Feb. 5, 2016 in a deeply personal way: as a survivor.
The daughter of Steve and Sue Porter of Presque Isle, both longtime local health care providers, she was selected to serve as an American Heart Association 2016 Go Red spokeswoman for the state of Maine. She shared her story during a special event for National Wear Red Day at Portland City Hall.
At only 25, Porter is a two-time stroke survivor and, in the past year, has undergone two successful brain surgeries, an extensive recovery process, graduated from her master’s program at Columbia University, and started a new job in Biddeford as Healthy Maine Partnership director for the University of New England’s Coastal Healthy Communities Coalition.
She spoke via phone Friday about her desire to have more women be aware of heart disease and be able to speak up for themselves in a healthcare setting.
“You don’t think of it at the time, but it’s so crucial that you have advocates and that you learn to advocate for yourself,” she said. “I’m such a huge proponent of sharing your story and sharing your connection to heart disease and stroke, because that’s the only way that we’re going to really be able to educate and help people learn about these diseases and know what to look for.”
There’s a reason she feels so strongly about this. When she had her first stroke, at age 20, an emergency room nurse told her to “stop faking” and go study for her finals. No one could believe a healthy, active, young woman was having a stroke.
Noticing increasing symptoms, her brother, Sam, who was with her, finally attracted a doctor’s attention to the fact that something major was going on.
“He was my voice,” Porter said, explaining that she was having difficulty forming words and couldn’t speak up for herself at the time.
After two weeks in the hospital, she began the arduous process of recovery from her memory loss and mobility issues. “My experiences during that time really helped open my eyes to the lack of awareness of stroke in young people,” she said, “so I decided to pursue my master’s in public health degree at Columbia University.”
Porter went to Columbia and things progressed for four years, until …
“Last spring, I was finishing my final semester of graduate school when I had my second stroke,” Porter explained.
This time, knowledge was power. She demanded to be heard.
As she said in Friday’s speech, “I walked into the emergency room of the hospital, went to the desk, and said, ‘Hi. My name is Sarah Porter. I am 24 years old. I had a stroke four years ago, and I am having another one right now.’ Needless to say, an introduction like that tends to provoke immediate action.”
Help came quickly. She and her doctors decided that brain surgery was a necessity.
“I had my first surgery in March and the second surgery in April of last year,” she said. “I was still somehow able to graduate in May, much to the shock of my medical providers.”
Porter credited her family, friends, and university community with helping her get there.
“My parents were such troupers through this whole scenario. They were stuck between wearing their parent hat and wearing their medical provider hat. They wanted to be calm and rational, but they also wanted to panic. They did an amazing job,” she said. “And at school, everyone was so supportive. My whole department, professors, everyone worked with me so I could finish. The whole school was just unbelievably supportive.”
She feels tremendous contrast between her first stroke experience and her second, and it’s that dramatic difference that highlights her platform as an AHA spokeswoman.
“One of the things that I’ve been truly shocked about in my experiences is that, after my first stroke — almost five years ago now — I felt so alone, so embarrassed and so ashamed. I felt that people wouldn’t understand.
“Once I got more comfortable with myself and being in New York, that’s when I started getting involved in the Heart Association. I had an incredible mentor in the New York AHA office who urged me to be comfortable sharing my story and embracing my physical and emotional scars. I think about how much of a difference it made between the first stroke, feeling so alone, and the second one, where I had this incredible support.”
This is why she says it is such an honor to be chosen as a spokeswoman: she can now share her experiences to encourage others.
“Every single time people hear what’s happened to me, they go ‘Wait, what? How old are you? You’re so healthy. You’re so active.’ People are shocked. But the sad truth is that there are so many people like me. Young women are being increasingly impacted by these diseases.”
But more importantly, there is help. “I want people to know that they don’t have to be alone, and that there is this huge network of survivors out there who are always willing to band together,” Porter said.
“I feel like my key takeaway from this whole experience is helping people learn from my experience and learn the importance of being their own advocate, standing up for themselves. Being able to have that confidence that you deserve to be heard is crucial.”
