It was a spring day that Cheryl Iking-Albert will never forget.

In April of 2015, the Airdrie woman suffered a stroke while expecting her first child.

"I was nine months pregnant at the time I had my stroke. Just woke up one morning and I wasn't feeling that well, I bent down to feed the dog and then I wasn't able to get back up."

Iking-Albert called to her husband and eventually was transported to Foothills Hospital where doctors told her she was suffering a stroke and needed to perform an emergency c-section to deliver her baby.

Doctors then had to rush to deal with Cheryl's stroke.

"They found that I had a bleed in my brain. After they did my emergency c-section they whisked me off to get brain surgery."

While the surgery was successful, Cheryl did spend time in ICU, followed by months of rehabilitation and outpatient therapy. Cheryl said the entire process was tough on her family.

"In all this, my husband ended up having to take time off to take care of our brand new baby. He was quite overwhelmed at the time because they weren't sure if I was going to make it."

Now, 2 years after the stroke, Cheryl is still recovering and moving much better. She's hoping to purchase a device called a Walkaid and explained why this will help her recovery.

"I can't lift my foot up when you walk when you normally do...my toes drag on the ground. At this point I have to wear a huge bulky brace that wears the back of your foot off so I've had huge blisters on the back."

Cheryl and her family have set up a Go Fund Me page to help cover the $6,500 cost of the Walkaid, and so far the community response has been great.

 

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