Arizona man recovering from stroke after family's quick action

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]Absolutely, Jamie. I mean, when it comes to a stroke, time is really everything.

[00:00:04]The man that I talked with, this actually happened on his daughter's birthday. She was really quick to call 911, which definitely helped him in the situation, but the better chance you have, the faster you call, the better chance you have to returning to your normal life with few or no health effects. Hello.

[00:00:23]>> Well, hello everybody. Hi, good to see you again. I'm back. It's a reunion they didn't know they'd get.

[00:00:29]>> you doing it.

[00:00:31]>> Denzel E. Johnson, back on his feet, meeting the doctor who helped save his life. It's amazing. It doesn't happen every time, but when it it happens, it's amazing. I ran back there. I appreciate it. But this moment started in a very different place, on his daughter's birthday. I got on the phone, was talking to my one of my sons in California, and I start mumbling. That's when Johnson says something felt off, signs of a stroke. And his daughter, the only one home, had seconds to make a call. You know, it's not like him. I know my father. So, you know, the way that he was acting, I'm like, this is not normal. Like, I got to call 911 fast.

[00:01:12]Within an hour, Johnson was airlifted from Arizona City to Banner University Medical Center in Phoenix. It was real scary.

[00:01:21]I didn't know what was going on with me, and when I got here, he said I had a stroke. I was like, whoa.

[00:01:29]Johnson spent four days in the hospital and underwent surgery. Doctors say most stroke patients face a long road back.

[00:01:37]But his recovery was anything but typical. Most people will need physical therapy after to regain some of their strength back. For Denzel, he actually went back to normal, which was amazing.

[00:01:49]This is like the best outcome you can get. Johnson was able to walk away with no brain damage.

[00:01:55]>> [laughter] >> And now, sitting beside the family who didn't hesitate, he's grateful they moved fast. When doctor came in and said, "Well, this medication saved your life." I said, "Well, give it here."

[00:02:08]>> [laughter] >> I'm just really thankful and blessed for it because I feel like at times like that, you know, you have to respond quickly.

[00:02:18]So, doctors say the best thing to remember is the acronym FAST. That is F A S T.

[00:02:24]>> Okay. That is face drooping, arm weakness, speech trouble, and that means it's time to call 911. So, these are some things you can really look to and you don't want to wait to see if it passes. You definitely want to if you notice something like this, call 911 immediately because as we said in the story, the faster you get help, the better the outcome.

[00:02:45]>> I'd rather call and and have it be a non-emergency than you waited and now you're dealing with something that you can't change.

[00:02:53]>> Yeah. Better to be safe than sorry. 911.

[00:02:55]Thank you, Michaela, and glad that happened.