LOUISVILLE, Ky. ⁠— The number of people who have sought out stroke treatment has dropped. Health experts attribute the dip to people ignoring symptoms because they are worried about being infected with coronavirus if they go to the hospital.

What You Need To Know


  • Patients seeking stroke treatment drops 

  • Drop is attributed to fear of coronavirus

  • Health care professionals say ignoring symptoms can lead to dire consequences

“This is something that is widespread, all around the country,” said Dr. Shervin Dashti, a neurosurgeon with the Norton Neuroscience Institute. “All the hospital systems are reporting the same thing a significant downtick in stroke admissions.”

In March of this year, Norton Healthcare had 144 patients come in for stroke treatment. In May, the number dropped to 96. Dashti thinks that people who are ignoring symptoms might be setting themselves up for a major stroke that has dire repercussions.

“Whatever caused that small stroke and slight weakness a few days or weeks later will lead to a much bigger stroke they can’t recover from,” said Dashti. 

Former University of Louisville basketball coach, Denny Crum, wants people at risk for stroke to pay attention to the warning signs. Crum is in good health after suffering his second stroke a year ago. 

“You can’t ever be to a point where you think it can’t happen to you because if anybody had those feelings it was me and I was totally wrong,” said Crum.

Luckily for Crum, his wife spotted the symptoms and rushed him to the hospital. Thanks to treatments, Crum has been taken off all his blood thinners and is just down to one aspirin a day.

“I feel good, I really do. I can’t tell you how fortunate I feel when I look back on what I went through,” said Crum.

Crum encourages people who are at risk for stroke to keep an eye out for the red flags and to not let coronavirus keep you from ignoring the symptoms.

“If you have feelings like that and you’re worried about that, you’ll never get through all the other roadblocks when you have a stroke,” said Crum.

Here are the warning signs and symptoms of a stroke in men and women:

  • Sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body
  • Sudden confusion, trouble speaking, or difficulty understanding speech
  • Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
  • Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance, or lack of coordination
  • Sudden severe headaches with no known cause

Call 911 right away if you or someone else has these symptoms.