“I never felt like that in my life before and I never want to feel like it again. I honestly feel like my body shut down. I remember telling myself, ‘If you don’t get to that phone, you’re done. You’re not going to make it.’”
George Fustor, who is from Rochester, suffered a stroke. He was home alone at the time.
When it happened, George crawled to his phone to call 911.
“The morning of the stroke, they brought me to Rochester General Hospital,” George said. “I remember just laying there in the intensive care saying, ‘I have to get better. I have Kelly, I have two sons, I have a granddaughter, and I have to be there for them. It’s not my time to check out.’
“That really honestly kept me going, you know, just having the drive to live.”
George was eventually transferred to begin his recovery at the Golisano Neurology and Rehabilitation Center at Unity Hospital.
“Dr. Dombovy was my main neurologist,” George said. “I honestly don’t believe that I would be sitting here today without her.”
“They pushed you hard but carefully. You know, every day I noticed that I was getting better. I was supposed to be in there for three weeks, but I did so good that I got out of there in two weeks. I wanted to get home. I wasn’t ready to give up and I wanted to fight as hard as I could.”
“What’s next is just spending time with my boys, my granddaughter, Kelly. I just want to continue to get better and hopefully help other people,” George said. “I always say, ‘Don’t ever give up. Keep on pushing yourself.’”
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