Long-term stroke survivors avoid second occurrence with help from UTHealth Houston and UT Physicians neurologist

Sergeant Danny L. Beckworth of the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office had completed a two-day, 148-mile cycling event and a half marathon before deciding to learn jujitsu at age 55.

Former attorney Frank Bennett “Ben” Harvie Jr. set an age record at the Houston Marathon at age 75 and just wrapped up competing in the Cherry Blossom 10-mile event a few weeks ago.

While their dedication to staying fit and active is impressive, what is really inspiring is that they both did those achievements after suffering a stroke.

Beckworth and Harvie are patients of Anjail Sharrief, MD, a neurologist who specializes in helping patients avoid a second stroke. She describes them as being examples of “resilience and fitness.”

“For these two stroke survivors, there is a persistent resolve to improve and recover and resume regular life,” Sharrief said. “Physical activity was a way to feel they had power and control over something. It helped with their mental recovery as well. In some individuals, there is a fear to resume regular activities, but they pushed through it and overcame it.”

Nearly 1 in 4 stroke survivors will have another stroke, according to the American Heart Association. The association created Life’s Essential 8 for lowering the risk of stroke: being active, eating better, avoiding tobacco, getting healthy sleep, managing weight, controlling cholesterol, managing blood sugar, and managing blood pressure.

Keeping active can significantly lower your risk. In a 2022 study in JAMA Network Open, researchers reported that people who sat for 13 or more hours per day were 44% more likely to have a stroke compared with those who sat for less than 11 hours per day.

“Staying fit is also important for helping people get back into the community, and socializing with people is important to the recovery process,” Sharrief said.

Harvie, who does word associations with names, calls Sharrief his “angel sheriff,” while Beckworth said he could feel her caring presence during his eight days in the hospital recovering from his stroke.

Both men were already fit when they had their first strokes – Beckworth in 2014 when he was 45 years old and Harvie in 2012 at age 66.

Beckworth had no warning before his stroke. He showered and was about to run an errand for his son and head to CrossFit training when he became incredibly dizzy. He collapsed on the bed and called his former wife.

“She said I didn’t sound right. It sounded like I was drunk, and I don’t drink,” Beckworth said. “She told me to hang up and call 911 because I wasn’t making sense.”

Instead, he called the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office and dispatcher Jennifer Tondera, who recognized his voice and the possible symptoms of a stroke. She told him to lay there and wait for help. But he crawled to the door to unlock it.

“Deputy Michelle Gretchick arrived and helped me lean over the tub because I became violently ill,” he remembered. “I kept asking if I was having a heart attack. I just knew I was sick and my head was in so much pain.”

He was taken to Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital. Physicians recognized quickly that he needed emergency surgery at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, where UTHealth Houston doctors were on standby. Because of the weather, Life Flight was grounded, so Fort Bend County Lt. John Moore arranged a motorcycle police escort, with assistance from the Houston Police Department, to race him toward the Texas Medical Center.

He didn’t know it at the time, but a massive ischemic stroke – caused by a large clot in the cerebellum part of the brain – had created enormous pressure. He underwent a craniotomy, where a small portion of his skull was removed to relieve the pressure, and was placed in an induced coma for a day.

After he woke up, Sharrief visited him and explained what had happened.

“As soon as she came in the first time, I felt her presence in the sense of, ‘She cares and she understands what is really going on with me,’” Beckworth said.

Sharrief told him that he couldn’t leave the hospital until he could do simple things like walk unassisted, go up a flight of stairs, and brush his teeth. He had to learn to walk again, and even doing something he once took for granted, like squats, seemed a “monumental challenge,” he said.

He drew strength from his faith, his colleagues – especially one of his partners, now-Fort Bend County detective Kyle Barrett – and his determination. He was able to return to light duty and then, after a few months, to full duty after passing tests including the obstacle course.

Beckworth wanted to go back to CrossFit training, and Sharrief gave him a green light but counseled him to go easy. He resumed training, but with less intensity. She also recommended meditation for him to deal with the lingering depression that can happen to stroke patients. According to the American Heart Association, a third of stroke survivors will experience depression.

“I am still working out. You have to keep moving. If you lay down and don’t move, it makes whatever you have worse,” said Beckworth, who has also overcome prostate cancer since his stroke. “Quitting has never been in my vocabulary.”

Harvie also did not let his stroke get in the way of staying fit – in his case, long-distance running. He started running in the seventh grade and is now 78. Since he turned 50, he has competed in more than 200 races and has run the Houston Marathon 20 times.

The former attorney survived a 1989 heart attack and then faced another potentially deadly health event in 2012. He came home from having dinner at a neighbor’s house and noticed that he had only partial vision in his right eye. He was diagnosed with an aneurysm in his right carotid artery that released a blood clot into his brain, causing his stroke.

Harvie noticed some episodic vision issues in January 2023 and went to see ophthalmologist Ore-ofe Adesina, MD, associate professor and John P. McGovern, MD, Professor in Ophthalmology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. Adesina ordered a doppler of Harvie’s carotid arteries, which run along each side of the neck into the brain. The scan revealed that the left carotid artery was occluded, and Harvie was referred to Sharrief for medical management to avoid a second stroke.

Sharrief adjusted Harvie’s blood thinner medication, and when Harvie said he wanted to run the Houston Marathon, she didn’t try to talk him out of it.

“I told him he had to stay well hydrated and take breaks,” she said. Harvie took care of himself and broke a record for his age group at the same time.

Recently, he won his age group in the Cherry Blossom event and the Crescent City Classic 10k in New Orleans. He is also leading the spring season Houston Area Road Runners standings for Runner of the Season for men older than 70.  

Both Beckworth and Harvie have advice for other stroke survivors.

“To anyone facing a similar challenge, I want you to know that there is life after hardship, but you have to push yourself,” Beckworth said. “Believe in your strength, lean on your faith, and accept the support of others. You can overcome.”

“Dr. Sharrief gave me some of the most mature advice I have received based on my whole body, persona, and lifestyle, as well as my medical history,” Harvie said. “If I can share one thing with people who have given up…there is life after stroke, especially if you have a great doctor like Dr. Sharrief. She considered all the options to not only save my life, but my passion as well.”