HUMAN RESILIENCE Seven weeks after her 1994 wedding, Anna Putt of South Midlands, England, shown here with her husband, Des, suffered a brainstem stroke that left her “locked in.” For months afterward, she recalled, “I was paralyzed from the neck down and was unable to communicate. These were VERY frightening times. But with encouragement from family, friends, faith, and medical staff, I tried to keep positive.” In the three years that followed, she learned to “talk” (by nodding at letters), to steer an electric wheelchair with her head, and to use a computer (by nodding while wearing spectacles that guide a cursor). Despite her paralysis, she has reported, “I enjoy going out in the fresh air. My motto is ‘Don’t look back, move forward.’ God would not want me to stop trying and I have no intention of doing so. Life is what you make of it!”
Courtesy of Anna Putt