Historia

My name is Carlos Andrés Cárdenas Espinosa "Charlie", I am 42 years old. Five years ago, I suddenly suffered a Hemorrhagic Cerebral Stroke in the left hemisphere of my brain. Thanks to the quick action of my wife and a friend, I was able to get to the hospital and get an emergency surgery.

After being in a coma for about two months, I began the process of "waking up", rehabilitating, understanding and assuming our new reality as a family, my wife and two children who were 3 and 5 years old at the time. Currently, I have a significant mobility disability on the right side of my body and the left side of my face.

Since then, I require 24/7 assistance. I require a wheelchair and although I am autonomous in some specific day-to-day activities, I have not been able to work again (I had my own advertising agency before the accident).

Due to my right hemiparesis and paralysis of the left side of my face, I have significant difficulties speaking. I lack motor skills and performing many day-to-day tasks become a challenge although cognitively, I am fully aware of the present moment. 

For the past 5 years, I have done traditional therapy that consists of physical, occupational, psychological and speech therapy, acupuncture, osteopathy, among others. After all these years, and having exhausted the tools of traditional therapy (which I still practice at home), I am asking for help to raise the money to try complementary methods that may allow me to improve my quality of life and autonomy, as much as possible. 

That's why I decided to start this fundraiser that I want to call “Charlie-thon”. After a lot of research and trusting my instinct, I found two treatments that I want to pursue: a Stem Cell therapy in an institute that treats these cases in Thailand; and a Brain Stimulation treatment in the United States. Although these treatments do not ensure a cure, because of the severity of the side effects of the stroke, they could give me some tools to improve the quality of my life. My family and I are hopeful that the results will be better than expected. 

Life changed for us in just a minute, but here we remain strong and united as a family.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story.

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