David Karchem, MS

Stroke survivor and former software developer who has dedicated the past decade of his life to advocating for patients to empower themselves to take their rehabilitation into their own hands.

PROBLEMS

“I thought that stroke rehabilitation was going to be about healing and regaining functionality, but several months into treatment I learned that if he wasn’t regaining function, it was not expected to return. I didn’t like that answer.”
“...once I began to really get myself together again after my stroke, I realized that rehabilitation became the most you could do for yourself. And, that's when I began to do things like enrolling at the local college into a warm water training program, which helped me learn to walk again.”
“I think telehealth will eventually give us the ability to do some remote therapy work that might help a person develop an exercise program at home. It's not going to be perfect, and it's not going to be as efficient as when somebody comes into the hospital or into the clinic and is evaluated.”