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WAVE STREET AUTHORS:
Tuesday, August 31st, 7-8 PM



LIVE OR DIE
A Stroke of Luck
by Richard Burns

Author Profile

LIVE OR DIE, A Stroke of good Luck By Richard Burns A story of survival, courage and hope.   It was a jolt from out of nowhere, a disaster tearing me from the life I knew. It was a cerebral hemorrhage, a hemorrhagic stroke. The hospital medical staff threw up their hands in surrender. Make him comfortable, the body’s paralyzed, the brain’s gone and there’s nothing we can do.             They advised my wife to make arrangements.             Richard (Dick) Burns, 38, TV and advertising executive who dressed grown men up as fruit for an underwear commercial and had an airline paint smiles on its planes, died suddenly the day after Christmas. He is survived by his wife, Nancy, and three children, Lisa, Shelley and Richard.             Hold on a minute, I must have asked myself, is this all I have accomplished during my time on this planet? I must have something better to offer than some silly TV ads.             And I guess the Almighty agreed. I didn’t die after all.                          When my story began, it was common belief that brain cells cannot regenerate and that other parts of the brain take over functions. But I began to think it would be impossible for remnants of an almost totally devastated brain to assume all the complicated functions of human existence. If time and proper treatment can repair other parts of the body, why not the brain? There are many, many cells in the brain. How many were destroyed? Were some merely damaged and reparable? Did others absorb new functions? A combination?             I am functioning now, much as before. Pressure and fatigue wear more easily. I’m older. The mind has been tempered with the experiences of hurt, adversity and disaster and shaped by the realities of this world. And molded and bent by the need for a better existence for myself and those loved ones who sacrificed and suffered so much. Small wonder I view this whole process as a “stroke of good luck.”             I came to the conclusion earlier than most scientific and medical professionals: brain cells can and do regenerate over time. How else to explain the slow, steady progress of regrowing abilities, regrowing functions, regrowing the mental to match the physical? That I can write these words, maybe philosophize a bit for the benefit of others, participate in an almost "normal" lifestyle—I am the living proof.

Right out of Madison Avenue and todays look at "Mad Men" you know Dick Burns by his ads:

For more info and a look at "LIVE OR DIE, A Stroke of Good Luck" click on:
www.liveordieburns.com


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08/19/10