Three years after suffering a life-threatening stroke while vacationing in the Bahamas, Anna Moore is continuing to rebuild her life, using her experience to encourage others facing difficult recoveries.
At age 38, Moore considered herself healthy and active. She exercised regularly, ate well and monitored a known brain aneurysm through routine MRIs every three months. Doctors considered the aneurysm low risk, and Moore experienced no warning signs before collapsing on June 3, 2023.
Moore’s husband, a physical therapist, performed CPR for approximately 40 minutes while family members struggled to direct paramedics to their vacation home. Moore was transported to a local clinic initially, then flown to Nassau before being airlifted to Florida and eventually transferred to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, where she spent 40 days recovering.
“The reality set in when I got home,” Moore said. “I left healthy and came back unable to use my left hand or even go upstairs by myself.”
Having two young daughters to care for, Moore said that’s when the mental battles gripped her. “I had to change my mindset because I was in a bad, dark place,” she said. “You have to ask for help,” she added. “People are ready and willing to help, but you have to let them.”
Moore credits her husband, family, friends and church community at First Baptist Church Gadsden with helping her through the darkest days of her recovery.
Moore said there were definitely moments when she had questions and thoughts she’d never had before, saying that her Christian beliefs, friends and family helped her to stay positive. “No doubt about it, I mean I crashed two times and somehow…He kept me here,” Moore said. “I know I have a purpose, and I’m determined to find out what it is.”
Today, Moore has regained her cognitive abilities and continues weekly physical therapy.
“Recovery doesn’t have a limit,” she said. “You have to put in the work every day.”
One of the biggest advances in her rehabilitation came through a Bioness L300 Go device,
which uses electrical stimulation to improve foot movement and walking. The device significantly improved her mobility and confidence.
Moore hopes greater awareness will one day make similar technology more accessible to stroke survivors.
“My message is one of hope,” she said. “Don’t stay in that dark place. Ask for help, lean on the people around you and don’t give up.”
Moore continues working toward two personal goals: running again and riding a bicycle.
“I’ll keep going to therapy because stopping would mean giving up,” she said. “I’m not settling.”
