Meet Brayden

Brayden loves sports — especially hockey! Thanks to the experts at the Stollery Children’s Hospital, every day Brayden is gaining strength and confidence to help him reach his goals.

Early into the Grade 1 school year, Brayden unexpectedly displayed the classic signs of a stroke: face drooping, arm weakness and speech difficulty (FAST), among other symptoms. That evening, Brayden’s mom noticed his speech sounded strange and only half of his face was moving. They rushed him to their local emergency department, where doctors sent him by ambulance to the Stollery. At the Stollery, Brayden had a CT scan that confirmed he had suffered a stroke earlier that day. Spending eight days at the Hospital, Brayden had many tests and doctors discovered part of his heart had never closed — he needed surgery. This cardiac surgery is not normally performed on children, and Brayden was only the second child at the Stollery to have it. As a result of his stroke, Brayden has also been diagnosed with a mild vascular neurocognitive disorder, meaning he has trouble with his pre-stroke levels of cognitive functioning.

Followed closely by his team at the Stollery, including neurology and cardiology, Brayden doesn’t let his stroke define him. His family is thankful this world-class children’s hospital is just a short drive away.