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"The care [I received] was beyond the call of duty, and I believe to my core it wasn't because I was the President of Texas Tech. You don't respond that way if it is not part of your culture. I mean that. Those cultural characteristics have to be built in. So, I must say thank you. Thank you. Thank you." On June 10, after a long day of meetings, a colleague of President Lawrence Schovanec noticed something wasn't right. "He said, 'There's something wrong here,' and that's really almost the last thing I remember. Maybe five minutes I was completely unaware of anything going on." The 17th President of Texas Tech University was having a stroke. Within minutes, he was transported from his office on campus to the Comprehensive Stroke Center at Covenant Medical Center. "I think God gave me a break." "I feel so fortunate I was down the road. I had just flown in a few days before. What if I'd been on the plane? What if I'd been out of the country? Or what if I hadn't been meeting with the provost, who recognized these things? I think God gave me a break." Schovanec was immediately seen by Neurointerventional Radiologist Dr. Thomas Windisch. Dr. Windisch and his stroke care team discovered a clot in Schovanec's brain. "He [Dr. Windisch] told me that it took 12 minutes to insert that wire in my leg and go up and extract this clot from my brain. He showed me some visuals of lack of flow before the event and then afterwards when I woke up." It was less than an hour between the time his colleague recognized Schovanec was having a stroke, and when he was out of surgery. In the two days following his stroke, Schovanec received a comprehensive evaluation including follow-up care with our critical care specialist Dr. Brian Williams, cardiologist Dr. Mohammad Otahbachi, and sleep expert Dr. Chris Rose. Reflecting on his experience Now, four months later, with the exception of a few lifestyle changes, Schovanec says he feels great and is back to normal. Although the president says he is 'busier than ever,' he has taken a few moments to reflect on his experience. "It does make you very, very grateful. I was walking on campus a few days after this happened… It would have been so weird just to disappear like that so suddenly. I think we've all thought of those things. What if? What if you don't have a chance to take that inventory of where you are? What you've done? And, so, I said that I feel like it was a wakeup call. God gave me a second chance. I don't want to squander it." Community Connection: Covenant Health | 7 Texas Tech President Credits Covenant for Life-Saving Stroke Care: 'A Second Chance'

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