Love for the Sea and Stroke Recovery

His strong love for the sea helped him recover enough from a stroke to go back to racing.

Bill Mautner was only 37 years old, married and a father of one with another child on the way, when he fell victim to a stroke from a brain arteriovenous malformation (AVM). He was placed in a medically induced coma for a week at Westchester Medical Center and woke up to find himself paralyzed on his left side. The doctors could not guaranty to him or his wife Erin that he would be able to walk by the time their second child was due. After a few more weeks at WMC, he became an in-patient for a month and an out-patient for six months at Burke Rehabilitation Hospital. He was determined to walk again. He made up his mind that this was something that he had to do and resolved not to give up. While he was still an outpatient he began walking again and was able to walk to greet his new-born daughter. He had set himself a goal that he wanted to walk when she was born.

Excellent Stroke Rehabilitation and Love for the Sea Healed Him

However, it was the combination of his love for the sea and the excellent stroke rehabilitation he received that finally sent him back to sailing, which he did in March, 2013 when he sailed from St. Martin around the Leeward Islands with a friend. This had an amazing energizing effect on him and boosted his self-esteem, so that he finally went out alone in his sunfish sailboat. In 2017 he participated in a race in his sunfish sailboat around Shelter Island. Bill believes that he is about 95-98% healed, as his left foot still feels heavy when he walks.

Sailing was in His Blood

Bill is a resident of New Rochelle, New York, a city that has been named the Queen City of the Sound referring to Long Island Sound. New Rochelle has a marina with all kinds of yacht clubs, sailing schools and rowing clubs. Bill Mautner was an avid sailor and sportsman who has been sailing since the age of 12. His father was in the Navy. When Bill was a teenager he began teaching sailing at Long Island’s Southold Yacht Club and he was also the captain of the sailing team at the University of New Hampshire.

Stroke Rehabilitation at Ditmas Park Rehab and Care Center, Brooklyn, New York

If you or your loved one are in need of short or long-term residential stroke rehabilitation in the New York area, consider Ditmas Park Rehab and Care Center in Brooklyn, New York.

They have earned an outstanding reputation for stroke rehabilitation and their team utilizes several different kinds of integrative therapies including music and pet therapy.

Brooklyn Hospitals near Ditmas Park Rehab and Care Center

New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital

NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn (formerly named NYU Lutheran Medical Center)

SUNY Downstate Medical Center – University Hospital of Brooklyn

NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County

Maimonides Medical Center

Conclusion

This heart warming story shows that it is so important not to give up if you have had a stroke and to keep plugging away with stroke rehabilitation until you reach your goal.