Arkansas is part of what the American Heart Association refers to as the stroke belt, a region in the southern United States with higher stroke mortality. For decades, Arkansas has ranked among the worst when it comes to strokes per 100,000 people and stroke deaths per capita. May is National Stroke Awareness Month. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders reports about 80% of strokes are preventable, and the Arkansas Department of Health reports about 32 Arkansans are hospitalized each day because of a stroke. All of this — Arkansas’s ranking, Stroke Awareness Month — led us to invite Earvin Young of Rogers to the Anthony and Susan Hui News Studio Monday.
“I’ve learned more about strokes and everything else after having a stroke.”
Earvin says he’s determined to tell more people more about strokes. Earvin had two strokes in a period of 10 days in January 2025. Until then, he hadn’t thought he was a likely stroke candidate. He was an avid exerciser, worked as a human relations executive and felt pretty well. On Jan. 2, 2025, he was watching college football with his son, and his son left to go to work…