Young boy who conquered two strokes being recognized

EDMONTON – Ayden Wallace was just nine-years-old when he suffered his first stroke last summer. It started with what seemed like a headache one morning.

“We watched that night (at the Stollery Hospital) – him completely deteriorate from being a normal little boy to we weren’t sure if he would ever even function again,” recalls his dad, Kevin Wallace.

“They did CT scans, and lumbar punctures, and blood tests, and doctors would come in and out,” his mom Dene adds. “It was like the worst House episode you’ve ever seen – living through it.”

Much to the parents’ shock, an MRI revealed their young son had a stroke.

“You’re reeling, trying to figure out what just happened, how can this happen to a nine-year-old boy?” Kevin says.

After weeks of hard work at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, Ayden managed to re-learn how to sit up, walk, and eat again. And by the fall, he was well enough to go back to school.

Then the unthinkable happened.

“He had a second stroke. And we started the journey all over again,” his dad says.

Get weekly health news

Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.

Sign up for weekly health newsletter Get Started

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

“The first stroke took his left side, and the second stroke took his right side, and the right side is, of course, his dominant side – he’s right handed.”

The recovery was tougher this time, because the second stroke had taken away his ability to walk and speak.

“But it never even phased him. He’d already been through the battle once and he’s like ‘I know I can overcome this, and I’m going to do this, and he just pushed through. Even to this day, if he figures there’s something he wants to try, he just does it…He tries it until he figures out a way to make it work.”

His speech language pathologist, Trina Pugh, can certainly attest to that.

“He was really really stubborn. We kept trying to get him to write on the iPad or write something out by hand, but he was adamant that he wanted to talk…and that was his goal.”

Pugh was one of the people to nominate Ayden for the Pediatric Award of Courage, saying he was a clear choice for it.

“You don’t often hear of someone who’s gone through two strokes and comes out fighting as hard as Ayden has…The grin that he has walking around this place, it just makes him stick out as someone who has courage.”

Ayden’s strong spirit even rubbed off on other patients.

“He would construct his own obstacle courses and then challenge the other kids to do them. Or other kids would ask him to do them and he would sit around and watch them do the obstacle courses. So he was always the kid who got everyone else involved in therapy too,” explains Ayden’s physical therapist, Vance Pilipchuk.

Ten months after his second stroke, the now 10-year-old has seen great improvements in his speech and movement. And his parents couldn’t be more proud of his hard work and perseverance.

“He’s my hero. There’s no other way to say it – he’s just so inspiring,” his mom says.

“He shows every day, that he’s a true trooper and has a lot of courage, and a lot of strength,” his dad adds. “He’s definitely taught me strength comes from within, not from outside.”

Staff of the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital choose three recipients of Awards of Courage every year. The ceremony is on October 3^rd, hosted by Global’s Su-Ling Goh.

Follow @TrishKozicka

With files from Su-Ling Goh, Global News