Raymond Ross didn’t know it at the time, but when he suddenly tripped and fell to the ground outside his Westchester County home in April, he was actually suffering from a stroke – and a CCTV camera at home captured it all.

“In the video, you can see me walking towards the fence and hanging on, but I didn’t realize I was actually going to be paralyzed on my left side,” Ross told NBC New York. I thought I was dizzy. I thought maybe I was just dizzy because I’ve had vertigo before.

But when he noticed things were getting worse, he managed to grab his phone and dial 911. This quick action likely saved New York’s dad’s life.

“I felt like I was having a really hard time speaking. So I kept trying really hard to get the address out,” he said.

Although it is not the closest hospital to his home, paramedics who arrived on the scene recognized the symptoms of the stroke and immediately transported him to Westchester Medical Center, where he is located. a comprehensive stroke center.

“We immediately recognized that he had had a stroke,” said Dr. Ji Chong, medical director of the hospital’s stroke center.

This stroke care guideline followed by EMS came into effect in the region just weeks before Ross ended up in an ambulance.

“There’s a whole system in place to make sure EMS gets a patient to the right hospital,” Dr Chong said.

At the hospital, doctors were able to give Ross anti-clot medication within 15 minutes of his arrival. They then performed a procedure to manually remove the clot.

The before and after images show the area of ​​Ross’s brain where the clot was found, with darker coloring in the after image indicating better blood flow. Ross said he felt better immediately – and just four weeks later was fully recovered.

“Everything that was wrong was now fixed,” he said.

It’s an achievement for Ross, who nearly missed the warning signs. He’s only 40 and healthy, but now he wants others to recognize the symptoms.

Doctors say to remember the acronym “BE FAST” – look for abnormalities in someone’s balance, eyes, face, arm or speech, and remember the time, because the clock turned.

“Time was absolutely of the essence in this case and so we were lucky that he came here and we were able to get him the optimal treatment in the shortest possible time,” said Dr. Justin Santarelli, endovascular neurosurgeon at Westchester Medical. Center. .

Doctors also say it’s important to call an ambulance instead of driving a loved one to the hospital. This way, paramedics can make sure patients are getting the right care.

“Whether you’re healthy and you think you’re immune to it, it can happen to anyone,” Ross said.