
'I couldn't form the words': 23-year-old Ont. woman highlights need for rural health care after stroke
CTV
The experience of 23-year-old Muskoka, Ont., resident Robyn Penniall, who recently had a stroke, comes as concerns are being raised about the future of health care in her community.
Robyn Penniall knows first-hand the importance of health care in rural Canadian communities.
Just two weeks ago, the 23-year-old had a stroke and required immediate care.
"It was terrifying," she said, recounting the stroke. "I knew what I wanted to say, but I couldn't form the words. I was stuttering, there was no voice coming out."
"She just kept saying, 'Mom,'" Aussa Penniall, Robyn's mother, said.
"And I said, 'Have you fallen? Have you had an accident?' And then she just said 'Mom' again, and I just said, 'Do you want me to call an ambulance?'"
Robyn lives two hours north of Toronto in the cottage country of Muskoka. There is only one hospital in the area, Bracebridge hospital, with the second closest being in Huntsville.