Recognizing Stroke Symptoms: How a Former EMT Survived Her Second Stroke

A stroke is one of life’s most devastating surprises. Many victims don’t even recognize what’s happening until they’re at the emergency room – or worse.

Not Serena Ferreira. When she woke up from a nap in August 2025, she knew exactly what she was going through, and that almost made the experience worse. She was a retired 911 supervisor and volunteer EMT who had suffered an initial stroke five years earlier. So she recognized the symptoms immediately: Drooping skin on one side of her face, difficulty standing and speaking.

“It scared me because I couldn’t talk,” says Ferreira, 57. “And I couldn’t get up off the couch. Like, I was trying to reach out. You know how you pull yourself up and you use your legs or your arms? I couldn’t do either, and it just scared me.”

Her husband, Thomas, had been a police officer and fellow EMT, and knew exactly what was happening.

Within seconds they were on the phone with 911.

Recognizing Stroke Symptoms: A Race Against the Clock

They both knew that with a stroke, time matters. The longer they went without specialized care, the more likely Ferreira would end up with debilitating, lifelong conditions. Luckily, help wasn’t far away. They were whisked by ambulance from their home in Apopka to the emergency room at Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center, which is certified as a comprehensive stroke center.

"I don’t need any more messages from the universe."
- Stroke survivor Serena Ferreira

“Every patient suffering a stroke loses 1.9 million brain cells per minute,” says Dr. Arnaldo Vélez, a vascular neurologist with Orlando Health Neuroscience Institute Neurology Group and medical director of Orlando Health Neurology Group. “The faster we treat, the better we decrease the stroke burden, the fewer potential deficits and the less disability patients may suffer.”

After stabilizing Ferreira, an MRI quickly revealed the culprit: A potentially deadly blood clot in the carotid artery. The stroke team quickly determined the best treatment in the short-term would be tenecteplase, a thrombolytic medication that could break up the clot if administered within a few hours of the stroke. Time was on Ferreira’s side.

When she awoke the next morning in the hospital, Ferreira found that her 22-year-old daughter Grace had waited with her the entire night. The medication had broken up the clot, but the staff at ORMC had more work ahead of them – and so did Ferreira.

Winners Never Quit (Unless They’re Smokers)

The morning after the stroke, Ferreira had plenty of time to reflect on her luck. She had survived not one but two strokes, the first one due to a blockage in an artery leading to her heart. Doctors often refer to this blockage as the “widow maker,” and Ferreira’s sister had lost her life to the same type of ischemic stroke years earlier at the age of 49.

Ferreira had her share of risk factors, including high cholesterol, type 1 diabetes and a smoking habit. She had managed the first two as best she could, but after the second stroke, the time had come to take the next step.

“I had been smoking for 30 years. I quit cold turkey,” Ferreira says. “I said, ‘I don’t need any more messages from the universe.’”

The nursing staff was more than supportive, cheering her on and even giving her nicotine patches. They changed them for her every four hours and did their best to keep her comfortable with pain medication when an old back injury flared up from too much time on the hospital bed. In her career, Ferreira had dealt with so many people on their worst days, and now Orlando Health was here for hers.

“They were checking on me, and they were wonderful. They recognized me, and I wasn’t treated like a number,” Ferreira says.

 Stroke Rehabilitation and the Journey to Recovery

After another MRI spotted significant webbing still remaining in Ferreira’s carotid artery, a stent was put in to keep the blood flowing. Within a few days, she was back home in Apopka with a thankful family by her side.

Ferreira didn’t get off scot-free. The stroke has left her with numbness in the thumb and pinky finger of her left hand that makes it nearly impossible to pick up a bottle, much less open one.  Orlando Health doctors connected her with an occupational therapist who gave her exercises to help restore function, and Ferreira works through them every day at home.

“The follow-up care is outstanding,” she says. “They’re on top of everything.”

Otherwise, life after the stroke is back to normal, with the addition of a few more walks. Ferreira takes time these days to enjoy gardening and nature, and she relies on her two young grandchildren to keep her active. And most importantly, she hasn’t had a smoke since the morning of that fateful August day.

“I still struggle with it,” says Ferreira. “It’s not easy, but I’ll never pick up another cigarette ever again in my life.”