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Mary Kay Ballasiotes - Board Member, SSEEO
I am the mother of 3 children and my youngest daughter, Michelle is a stroke survivor. Michelle suffered her stroke somewhere between 20 and 29 weeks gestation and we still don't know what caused her stroke. But she is doing well, physically and mentally and is now a vibrant 12 year-old with only a slight limp and weak right hand to remind her that she is indeed a stroke survivor.
Not content to be alone in my journey, I sought out other families that were in my same situation. I was fortunate to find many other families in the Chicago area that also had young stroke survivors and ended up founding an organization to support them. In April 2002, Childhood Stroke & Hemiplegia Connections (www.cshconnections.org) was formed and we have grown to over 80 families who now can connect to help one another in our journey to help our young stroke survivors.
I moved from Illinois in June of 2008, but was able to stay connected through being a board member of SSEEO and an active volunteer for the American Heart Association. I have become passionate about education and awareness of pediatric stroke and SSEEO has given me the opportunity to advocate in that endeavor.
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