AUSTIN (KXAN) — Lillian Angelle was living her best life in Austin as a professional in the music scene when she suffered a stroke earlier this year. But as she went through the recovery process, she turned that tough experience into something beneficial for not only herself, but also others struggling with disabilities.
Angelle was 33 when she had a stroke in February. She said it started as mild neck pain that lasted for about two weeks.
“I consider myself a very healthy person, very active, so I didn’t really think anything of it. I would have never thought stroke or anything like that,” Angelle said. “I was just working from my desk at home. I cracked my neck, which is a bad habit that I had, and a pain shot to the front of my head, and that’s when I just was overwhelmed with fatigue, and I basically collapsed, and I would have probably just fallen asleep there, but luckily, my husband was home, and I got up and went out to him and said, ‘I feel weird.'”
Angelle said that’s when her speech started to slur, so her husband did a stroke test on her. She couldn’t raise her right arm all the way up, so he rushed her to the hospital, where it was determined that Angelle was experiencing a medullary stroke.
After spending about two months in St. David’s rehab program, Angelle started her recovery journey at Centre for Neuro Skills (CNS). When she started at CNS in March, she was in a wheelchair and needed help with the smallest of movements.
But she was determined to get back to the trails with her 75-pound dog and return to her job at PBS Austin City Limits.
Time and training helped her get back on her feet, literally, and exceed her goal of walking 6,000 steps a day. Angelle said in a testimonial to CNS that she can now do 10,000 without any assistance.
-
Lillian Angelle suffered a stroke at age 33 and started her recovery journey with Centre for Neuro Skills, where she created an accessibility guide for Austin music venues.
(Photo courtesy: Centre for Neuro Skills) -
Lillian Angelle suffered a stroke at age 33 and started her recovery journey with Centre for Neuro Skills, where she created an accessibility guide for Austin music venues.
(Photo courtesy: Centre for Neuro Skills) -
Lillian Angelle suffered a stroke at age 33 and started her recovery journey with Centre for Neuro Skills, where she created an accessibility guide for Austin music venues.
(Photo courtesy: Lillian Angelle) -
Lillian Angelle suffered a stroke at age 33 and started her recovery journey with Centre for Neuro Skills, where she created an accessibility guide for Austin music venues.
(Photo courtesy: Lillian Angelle) -
Lillian Angelle’s mother watches as Lillian talks to KXAN anchors Will Dupree and Avery Travis about creating an accessibility guide for music venues after suffering a stroke at 33
(KXAN Photo/Abigail Jones) -
Lillian Angelle talks to KXAN anchors Will Dupree and Avery Travis about creating an accessibility guide for music venues after suffering a stroke at 33
(KXAN Photo/Abigail Jones) -
Lillian Angelle created an accessibility guide for music venues after suffering a stroke at 33
(KXAN Photo/Abigail Jones)
Creating the ADA accessibility guide for live music venues
As for getting back to work at PBS Austin, Angelle also had to work hard on cognitive rehabilitation. That led her to create an accessibility guide for Austin venues.
“At Center for Neuro Skills, they’re great with, you know, working with you on your interests and your background,” Angelle told KXAN. “So after telling my cognitive rehab specialist, you know, what my background was with music and wanting to get back into work, they gave me a return to work assignment that would help with visual scanning and processing speed and things like that.”
Angelle said she started building a spreadsheet in her sessions with CNS by aggregating data from Google Business and calling venues.
“I was also, you know, starting to get more comfortable, starting to return to shows at that time,” Angelle said. “I was going to venues, you know, actually navigating them with my trekking pole and my limited mobility, and I thought this is a great guide, you know, just for other fellow patients at Center for Neuro Skills, and anyone who just needs a little extra help getting to a show, because music really is for everyone, and it’s such a unifier.”
“It’s something I never thought about before the stroke,” she added.
Angelle posted the guide on her Instagram profile. It shares details about the “most accessible” venues like ACL Live, Bass Concert Hall, Emo’s, and more, and it lists “somewhat accessible” venues, as well as venues that will need to be contacted in advance about ADA accommodations.
She said she’s also working with CNS to post it on their website, and she wants to keep adding venues as she attends more shows and learns to navigate new spaces.
Angelle shared some advice that she’d give to others on navigating music venues or festivals like Austin City Limits, which kicked off the same day she visited KXAN to share her story.
(KXAN Photo/Abigail Jones)
“I think just pace yourself and, you know, rely on your community,” she said. “See if there’s people there that can be with you and help you if you need it. You know, it can be very scary. There’s a lot of dust there. You’re walking miles. It’s very hot in the Texas sun, but, you know, drinking tons of water and just having people around will help you.”
Angelle said she’s going to Weekend 2 of ACL. “I’m excited to go… I love The Strokes, and now I want to see them again after having a stroke.”
KXAN anchors Avery Travis and Will Dupree contributed to this story.
Credit: Source link
