Baltimore DJ Who Had Two Strokes Wants Others to Catch the Warning Signs

Shelbe Hudson spent a month in Sinai Hospital learning to walk, talk and write again after her second stroke. Her mother brought her DJ kit to the ward. Hudson, who performs as DJ Huxtable in and around Baltimore, is now 34 and turns 35 on November 1.

Hudson was in her mid-20s and working as an analyst by day when headaches and blurry vision started. She told her mother about the blurred vision. Her mother told her to see a doctor, but Hudson said she was hard-headed and did not listen. Days later she went. A doctor sent her straight to the hospital and told her she was having a stroke. She could not drive for about six months afterward. She recovered and returned to making mixes.

Seven years later, she felt off one morning before a DJ gig. She called her mother, then her father; neither answered. She dialed 911 and realized she could not speak. "I thought I was talking, but I was mumbling," Hudson said. She left the house looking for help. She walked up and down the street and saw no one, then spotted a neighbor, ran to her car and threw her phone inside so the neighbor would know something was wrong. "As soon as they came, I collapsed," she said. That was her second stroke.

Her recovery that time took longer. "I didn't think I'd be able to talk again," Hudson said. Sinai Hospital staff and her family helped her through it. Once she was back on her feet, she contacted the American Heart Association to share her account. She DJed the Baltimore Heart Walk earlier this month.

Hudson has a message for anyone who feels something is off: "Listen to your body; if you feel anything off, get it checked out. Early prevention is key. I know people don't like to go to the hospital, but go," she said.

The American Heart Association publishes stroke warning signs, prevention information and ways to get involved on its website.