One morning, about a year ago, a beautiful, energetic young woman was getting ready to start her day. Former Colts Cheerleader Tessa David had the world at her feet.
Days later, however, she found herself in the hospital, faced with the task of relearning how to walk and talk. At only 28 years old, the Bloomington native had suffered a stroke.
That day, David was in the shower when she started feeling dizzy.
"I put my hand up, and I fell down. I turned the shower off. And I thought I had vertigo. My vision was blurry, I was dizzy, I had a serious headache," David said during an interview at Lucas Oil Stadium.
She spent nearly two days paralyzed, unable to speak in her Dallas apartment.
"I never-- I never in my life thought I was having a stroke," David said.
When she missed work, family, friends and her boyfriend started to worry. The police were called to check.
"The police came in and saw that I had a droopy face," David said.
She was taken to the hospital.
"They did all the tests on me and it was a serious stroke. Sixty percent of my brain was damaged," David said.
Since that day, David has been through rehab in Dallas, Bloomington and finally in California, where she has seen incredible improvement through an alternative form of treatment called the "Anat Baniel Method."
David, who is now 29, is right-handed. The stroke, however, left her with limited use of her right arm, so she is learning to use her left hand instead. She has relearned to walk and treasures every step.
"It's a blessing. I could have died in my apartment. I fought through it," David said.
David's sister, best friend and dad represent the thousands who marvel at her recovery and unwavering optimism.
"She is compassionate, wants people to be happy," said David's father, David.
"She wanted to be the Tessa that she's always been. The happy, positive, hardworking Tessa," said David's sister, Anna.
"If she's sitting there trying to figure out a word, she just kind of smiles and laughs about and then, well, we'll figure it out at some point, or we're just not going to know what the word is," said David's friend and Colts Cheerleader, Erin Smith.
David's stroke caused a frustrating condition called Aphasia, meaning she cannot always find the words she wants to say.
"It's there in your mind, but I can't get it out," David said.
But you can see her emotion in her eyes, like the way they brightened stepping onto the field again at Lucas Oil Stadium.
"Hearing the crowd yelling excites me," David said.
David says her years as an NFL cheerleader are behind her. She still hopes to use that positive spirit, however, cheering others on as a therapist.
"I'm doing Anat Baniel's method. I'm taking her training to help stroke patients where I was at," David said.
Another first for David: after five years as a cheerleader, she got to watch the Colts from the stands on Sunday.
"I want to come back to the games all the time and have life. I enjoy life," said David.
David, who was always healthy and active, wants people to know that stroke can happen at any age.
"A person in high school, in college, Colts cheerleaders, young people can have it. Not old people. I thought old people can have it. I didn't know," David said.
In the year ahead, David hopes to regain her ability to read and drive a car.
"I'm a fighter," David said.
Her insurance does not cover most of her treatment, so family and loved ones are stepping in to help. Her former teammates on the Colts' cheerleading squad hosted a Zumbathon in September to help raise money, and her family has set up a GoFundMe account.
For more resources on stroke and symptoms of stroke, click here.
