At 50, Jane Stachowiak was at the peak of her career. A long-time athlete, she was director of student activities at Berklee College. During a meeting with students, she suffered a massive stroke. As it turned out, Stachowiak was a time bomb: she had a hole in her heart and a clotting disorder. A clot traveled through the hole and went directly to her brain. The ordeal rendered her paralyzed on her right side, but Stachowiak refused to succumb. Through Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, the former aerobics instructor became involved with AccesSportAmerica, a non-profit fitness organization for people with disabilities. "It helped me forget about my disability," she marvels. "They've been great at keeping my spirit going." She now bikes (on training wheels) and canoes, and she has even experimented with Gyrotonic exercises. "Recovery is life-long," she admits. "But everything told me I could get better -- I had leadership skills, and I knew something about exercise. You build endurance, and you just keep going." With her husband's support, she now works out up to four times per week. Her latest purchase? A Wii Fit. "I'm very intrigued," she says. She's also moved forward in her career. Appropriately, the 57-year-old is now Berklee's director of student wellness and health promotion.
At 50, Jane Stachowiak was at the peak of her career. A long-time athlete, she was director of student activities at Berklee College. During a meeting with students, she suffered a massive stroke. As it turned out, Stachowiak was a time bomb: she had a hole in her heart and a clotting disorder. A clot traveled through the hole and went directly to her brain. The ordeal rendered her paralyzed on her right side, but Stachowiak refused to succumb. Through Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, the former aerobics instructor became involved with AccesSportAmerica, a non-profit fitness organization for people with disabilities. "It helped me forget about my disability," she marvels. "They've been great at keeping my spirit going." She now bikes (on training wheels) and canoes, and she has even experimented with Gyrotonic exercises. "Recovery is life-long," she admits. "But everything told me I could get better -- I had leadership skills, and I knew something about exercise. You build endurance, and you just keep going." With her husband's support, she now works out up to four times per week. Her latest purchase? A Wii Fit. "I'm very intrigued," she says. She's also moved forward in her career. Appropriately, the 57-year-old is now Berklee's director of student wellness and health promotion.
