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Life has a way of reminding us that we are not in control. Although Jessica Zalusky spent years making a name for herself first as a competitive snowboarder, then as a professional motorcycle racer, she was never injured. At the age of 32, after her best racing season, everything changed.

Jessica grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota, where she dreamed of a life full of adventure. During the winter months, she spent her free time snowboarding. “With everything I do, I end up getting a passion for it,” Jessica says. “I’m a competitive person by nature and with snowboarding, I had so much fun that I just started competing.” Jessica graduated early and, at the age of 17, she moved to the West Coast to pursue her dreams.

Jessica went on the pro snowboarding circuit and traveled around the world. She lived in California, Oregon and Colorado, then briefly in Switzerland, in order to train and compete. Before she was 21, Jessica competed at the world cup level and was ranked in the top 10 snowboarders in the world.

“At about 21, I decided I wanted to come back to Minnesota. I had accomplished everything I wanted to and was ready to move home.” But, Jessica’s adventures had only just begun. When she was 17 and ready to move West, Jessica had purchased a motorcycle: A Kawasaki Ninja 250. “When I would go to Oregon in the summer, I would throw my motorcycle in the back of my truck. I’d go snowboarding during the day, then in the afternoon and on weekends, I’d buzz around on my motorcycle.” Back in Minnesota, she began riding more and met some friends who raced.

“I watched a few professional motorcycle races and figured I’d like to try it,” Jessica says. In 1999, when she was 21, Jessica dedicated herself to the sport. She was determined to become good at racing and eventually ranked as one of the top regional riders. “I took on the pro circuit in 2002. I knew I had a really good opportunity that year and just jumped at it.”

Jessica’s first race bike was a Honda CBR 600 F3 and her sponsors later included Ducati, a motorcycle company. It didn’t take long before her name started appearing on the Star Tribune sports page, followed by publicity on local TV stations and eventually, national coverage. Having a professional image on and off the racetrack is an important part of pro racing. “In racing, you are constantly working to promote and market yourself. I realized when I did that, I was able to get more sponsorships. It came full circle.”

Curve in the Road

On November 7, 2008, Jessica went in for knee surgery. “I strategically scheduled my surgery to fall after the racing season and after our awards banquet where I received some awards for being one of the top regional riders in the Midwest,” Jessica says. A week later, she was back at home, wearing a brace and anticipating a few months of therapy to prepare for one last year of racing.

Her plans changed on November 16. “I was in the bathroom at home and just collapsed,” Jessica says. “My husband came in and saw me. I was really incoherent at the time but I remember him telling me to stand up. I kept telling him to get my crutches because I didn’t realize what was wrong. But he looked at me and he realized that I was standing on the leg I just had surgery on.”

“He lowered me down on the floor, I remember that vaguely, and then called 911. He kept saying ‘my wife is having a stroke.’ He knew because of my deficits –the whole side of my face was slouched. I kept saying to myself, ‘I can’t be having a stroke. I’m too young. I’m 32. I’m not having a stroke.’ I could just see the fear in his face.”

Jessica was taken to St. Louis Park Methodist Hospital. The whole left side of Jessica’s body was numb. “The doctors or my family would ask me to smile and after I did, they’d just give me this sad look,” Jessica remembers. “No one told me I couldn’t smile. Finally, I asked the guy in the ambulance, ‘what’s wrong with my smile?’ He said, ‘Honey, you’ll get it back some day.’ It was then that I realized I just couldn’t feel anything.”

Immediately after arriving at the hospital, specialists administered TPA into Jessica’s brain. The procedure sends a probe of clot busting medicine in through an artery to the areas of damage while the patient is somewhat conscious. They discovered that one clot had likely turned into three. And, that there were three areas of damage to the right side of Jessica’s brain. “They found two of the clots and told me to either hold my breath or not blink and they would send the probe,” she says. “I felt a warm sensation in my head, which is so wild, and I felt them probing around.” Then they’d ask Jessica to move her left side or her hand. But, nothing moved. “There was a third area that they said was too risky to probe too. But the damage was done.”

At the Starting Line

Jessica’s stroke was coined as a fluke. She had no family history of strokes and doctors didn’t find any blood disorders. “It was more of a shock than anything,” Jessica says. “I went from motorcycle racing and getting awards to being in a hospital.”

“From the second I had the stroke, it’s been like a whirlwind,” she says. “There’s not a lot of time to focus and dwell on it. I couldn’t feel my whole left side and for the first time in my life, I was relying on people to do everything for me – from going to the bathroom to being bathed in the bed. It’s the most helpless feeling.”

There were many milestones Jessica celebrated during her recovery. On the morning after the stroke, she remembers trying to move a finger. “I moved it very faintly and I was just freaking out! I woke my mom up and she called my husband, mother in law and my sister,” Jessica says. “That’s all I did for the next couple of days: just kept trying to move stuff. And eventually I was able to.”

Physical therapy was rigorous and exhausting. “I’d get out of my bed, get in the wheelchair and go to therapy for a couple of hours. I’d go back up to my room for lunch and during that time I had to put my right knee in a machine (because I had just had surgery on it) for half an hour each day where the machine would straighten it and bend it. Then, after lunch, I’d get in a wheel chair and go back down to physical therapy for a few hours. Finally, I’d head up to the room again and I’d be able to see friends and family. By the end of the day, I was wiped.”

Learning Curve

“Having to rely on other people for help gives you a whole new appreciation for everything,” Jessica says. “I had to relearn everything from eating to how to write with my left hand,” Jessica says. “Walking was the biggest hurdle. It was probably more than three weeks before I could pick my foot up and advance it by myself – it was the most overwhelming experience – it brought tears of joy! I knew I was that much closer to walking and that much closer to being somewhat independent again. It was just amazing.”

Jessica credits her husband Eric for how well her recovery went. “He was there every day, all day. I know I wouldn’t be this far along without him.” Jessica lovingly calls him her left hand person “because he was there for everything. He’s the one who helped me. After awhile, we wouldn’t even call nurses when I needed to get out of bed. It was just the two of us. He was just amazing.”

The Last Stretch

Recovering from a stroke involves recreating pathways that were damaged or destroyed. The brain remaps and reconnects. Oftentimes, Jessica is asked, “What percentage are you back to where you were before the stroke?” Five months into her recovery, Jessica considered herself halfway there. “I still have quite a ways to go. I think I do a pretty good job of hiding my deficits – I’m able to compensate,” she says. “I have some sensation issues. I do a lot of training to help me figure out, am I holding a recorder or am I holding a cup? I don’t always know what exactly I have in my hand. I’m relearning textures and feelings.”

Before the stroke, Jessica could curl 20 to 25 pounds each arm. After the stroke, it took a week before she could curl a pound or two. “I could see the muscle but I didn’t have that body -mind connection. So I just had to keep trying.” At the five month mark, she could curl 15 pounds. “I can see the muscle and the motion but the strength is still coming back.”

In addition to building up her strength, Jessica also works on running. “At first it wasn’t that pretty,” she says. “I have the mechanics of running but sometimes I have to stop or I screw up my pattern for running but I am getting better, which is huge!” Jessica ran in a 5k on August 1 and has another one planned for September. “I’ve been running 2.5 miles on a regular basis,” Jessica says.

A Recreated Path

Prior to November 16, 2008, Jessica was planning on taking physical therapy for her right knee and then to race again in 2009 – she wanted one last great season. “But, then everything changed forever in one day.”

“The first night of my stroke, my plan was to just make it through. I didn’t really comprehend what was going on. I just thought, ‘I want to live. Give me a fighting chance and I’ll do whatever it takes.’”

Jessica was young and athletic when she had the stroke and that undoubtedly aided her recovery. But, she also set a goal that was her motivating factor. “I’d like to race one more time,” she says. “For me as a personal achievement, but also to embrace this whole world of being a stroke survivor.” She wants to give other survivors a sense of hope. And she’s doing that as a volunteer at St. Louis Park Methodist Hospital. “After what I’ve been though, I like to be there to listen to someone and be able to say ‘I laid in that bed once and I didn’t get out of it for a long time. I had to relearn to walk – but today I rode a motorcycle to the hospital.’”