Stroke Survivor, Entertainer Della Reese: Empowering Words

Della Reese suffered a stroke when she was at the height of her entertaining career. She was on set of NBC’s “The Tonight Show.” Guest host Richard Dawson, who was filling in for Johnny Carson, had just introduced her. She stood center stage, only a half-dozen notes into one of her favorite songs, “Pieces of Dreams,” when she “Hit this horrible note, a terrible note. My body began to twitch, and I fell to the floor. I did not know what was wrong with me,” Reese remembers. She was out until 11 the next morning. Today, Della’s hemorrhagic stroke is an event of the past, but will never be forgotten. Her career has been bountiful and she devotes a lot of time empowering stroke survivors and encouraging them to never give up hope or strength. For more information on strokes or Della Reese’s personal story of survival, visit www.stroke.org.