Pediatric stroke victim, family heartened by response

Thomasville Times-Enterprise - 5/29/2022

May 27—THOMASVILLE — The Thomasville City Council issued a proclamation Monday that May was now Pediatric Stroke Awareness Month.

In attendance to this proclamation was Hayden Eason, 13, and his parents, Jesse Eason and Rena Crew, who were presented with the proclamation by Mayor Jay Flowers.

"That makes it the official month for just spreading awareness about it and that it does happen to even kids," Crew said about the significance of the proclamation, "Because a lot of times people will have that stigma about strokes, that it only happens to older individuals and I learned a lot as a parent, through the years, that it affects a lot of children and their families."

Leaving the council chambers, proclamation in hand, the family was greeted by a surprise crowd of co-workers, fellow churchgoers and supporters from the local community wearing purple and cheering for them in celebration of the proclamation and in support of Hayden.

"When we walked out of the courthouse, it was, my eyes lit up because I didn't know anybody was going to be there," Crew said, "It was just a really sweet moment for Hayden and our family."

Crew, a coach at Thomas County Middle School, said that the crowd, organized by Vicky Bryson, the executive assistant of the city of Thomasville, really cemented the support and love she and her family felt from the community.

"To just recognize Hayden and the struggles that he faced and there, that to me solidifying their love for him and our family and ... that they're here to support us, just like it was their own family," she said, "So it just meant the world to us."

Born in 2009, Eason had his first stroke when he was 6 months old and a second stroke nine months later.

"He got sick. We didn't know why. We ended up going to the ER at the time, and they did lots of tests and they found out that it was a stroke," Crew said, "And so, we had a lot of, uh, lot of doctor visits and a lot of appointments his first probably year, year and a half, of life."

While the first stroke left no visible damage, according to Crew, the second stroke impacted her son's health in a far more substantial way.

"The second stroke left him with more damage. He has left-sided hemiplegia, or hemiparesis, so he's partially paralyzed on that left side," she said, "So he lost the use of his left arm and he can walk and do everything everyone can, but he doesn't have any fine motor skills in that left hand."

Crew said that her son had gone through considerable physical and speech therapy, but had persevered against the difficulties of his condition.

"He's just a trooper," she said. "He's just a strong, adaptable kid."

According to his mother, Eason helps out with the TCMS football team and is on the A-B Honor Roll, while encouraging kindness in others that he doesn't even recognize himself.

Bryson, according to Crew, was a huge help in arranging the proclamation. Reaching out to the mother after a series of social media posts promoting pediatric stroke awareness, Bryson offered her help in getting something done.

"And she kind of helped prompt us in being able to have it actually make it a proclamation in the city of Thomasville," Crew said. "I didn't even realize that was something we could do and so...she ran with it and I was like, 'Absolutely, that would be amazing.'"

With May now recognized as a month to promote awareness for pediatric strokes, Crew said that she'd like to begin raising money for organizations her family has become familiar with.

"For the future to come, we'd like to do some fundraising for the Pediatric Stroke Network and there's a hemiplegia association that we're a member of just to help," she said.

Crew said that CHASA, a non-profit organization dedicated to aiding individuals who developed hemiplegia during childhood, was an amazing organization to donate to in honor of Eason for those interested.

Payton Fletcher can be reached at 229-226-2400, ext. 1826

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