How this 33-year-old Bluffton mom's quick thinking saved her own life

Before it happened, there was nothing in Bluffton resident Jana Marie Bates’ life to indicate she would suffer a stroke.

“She’s 33 years old, she’s healthy, she exercises, she eats well, she doesn’t smoke, she doesn’t have cholesterol issues. She had no risk factors for a stroke,” said Ashley Chandler, a friend of Bates’ who started a YouCaring page for her the day after Bates’ March 8 stroke.

“When I got the news that she had a stroke, I was in disbelief, and I think that reaction was pretty widespread among everybody that knows Jana.”

Bates is a nurse with Coastal Carolina Hospital’s Labor and Delivery Unit and recognized the symptoms of the stroke as soon as they set in on March 8, said Bates’ husband Bill, an officer with the Bluffton Police Department, who credits that fact with saving her life.

When she felt symptoms coming on, she asked her youngest son Logan to wake up her husband, who had just finished working a night shift. When Bill Bates came into the room, he saw his wife on the floor.

“She said to me ‘I hope I’m not having a stroke,’ and I said ‘get out of here. You’re 33. You’re not having a stroke.’ A couple minutes later, she just grabbed my arm and said ‘call an ambulance. Call 911. Something’s not right,’” said Bill Bates. “Thank God she listened to herself.”

Bates was taken to the emergency room, where three blood clots were found on her brain, according to her YouCaring page. That discovery resulted in her being flown to Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

Road to recovery

After arriving at MUSC, two of the clots on Bates’ brain were removed, while doctors left a third to dissolve on its own, according to Chandler.

A doctor told her and her husband that the stroke she had was one of the worst a person can have.

“The neurologist at MUSC told Jana that she is a miracle and is lucky that she only suffered minor deficits, as 88 percent of patients who suffer this type of stroke aren't as lucky,” said Bill Bates.

Within a few days, though, Bates was already walking up and down a half flight of stairs as part of her physical therapy, her husband said.

Three days after the stroke, on Saturday, Bates returned home. In the days since, she and her family have been taking it one day at a time, her husband said, and she has been getting a little better each day.

“She’s very eager to put this behind her and get back to her normal routine,” he said.

A community helps

As doctors worked to ensure Bates lived, people from around the town of Bluffton came together to make her and her family’s lives easier.

Chandler started a YouCaring page that has so far raised $5,800.

“They’re a double-income family and with not being able to work and now all these hospital bills, finances were definitely on her mind,” said Chandler, who told Bates about the YouCaring page on Sunday. “She wasn’t aware of it until I talked to her, and it just brought her to tears.”

People from the town of Bluffton and the Bluffton Police Department have donated their vacation hours to Bill Bates to allow him to stay at his wife’s side and take her to doctor’s appointments.

“Police officers stick together. They’re definitely your family,” said Chandler.

Bill Bates’ supervisor Sgt. Bonifacio Perez and Police Chaplin John Ring drove up to Charleston to visit his wife in the intensive care unit and provide lunch and spiritual guidance, he said.

“Never before has an employer treated me or my family with such kindness,” he said.

In-laws and police friends have stepped up to help take care of their kids, Bill Bates said, allowing his wife some much needed quiet time to rest.

Members of Burn Boot Camp in Bluffton, where Jana Bates works out, dedicated their participation in the Red Cedar Foxes Trot 5K on Saturday to Jana Bates, wearing blue ribbons to support her, her husband said. That was followed by a fundraiser for her where those members, alongside Bluffton Boot Camp owner Laura Lutz, raised $900.

Meanwhile, Rainbow International Restoration on Hilton Head Island came to Bluffton and cleaned the Bates’ carpets, where Jana Bates got sick during her stroke, before she returned from the hospital in Charleston.

“Words can’t describe how grateful we are and how appreciative we are of everyone’s love and support,” said Bill Bates.

What to look for

Before asking her husband to call 911, Jana Bates noticed that she was dizzy and slurring her speech, Bill Bates said. She also had a severe headache.

She hopes that she might be able to use the experience she’s endured to spread the word to others about what the symptoms of a stroke look like.

The American Stroke Association recommends using the acronym FAST to determine if you are having a stroke. Essentially, if your face is drooping, one of your arms is weak and you are slurring your speech, it is time to call 911.

This story was originally published March 17, 2018 at 8:28 AM with the headline "How this 33-year-old Bluffton mom's quick thinking saved her own life."