In art, the rule of thirds helps create a well-composed image. But in life, sometimes you discover those rules fall away, and that balance is lost.
Last Christmas, Ryan MacCredie, a Mansfield art teacher, was in the hospital and fighting for his life.
This Christmas, he’s home and celebrating with his family, including his wife and three young children.
It is difficult to believe the tragedy that almost killed him one year ago. Even more amazing is the journey to reclaim his life.
“I’m very grateful to be here and very grateful to teach,” said MacCredie.
He said he loves being a teacher because “You can inspire kids to be a great artist.”
MacCredie, 44, is thrilled to be back in the classroom, teaching art again at Madison Comprehensive High School in Mansfield, after surviving a life-threatening medical crisis.
“I took life for granted,” he said. “After this experience, you don’t take life for granted.”
Dec. 12, 2023, was a day that changed everything.
MacCredie did something he’d always done. Something a lot of people do.
“It was like any other day,” he said. “I was just finishing dinner, and I cracked my neck.”
But he says this time, he knew right away something was different. That something was very wrong.
“It started tingling,” he recalled. “I got up and lost my balance, and immediately, Becky, my wife, called 911.”
MacCredie woke up in the hospital five days later.
While rare, cracking your neck can cause a stroke due to a torn artery. MacCredie suffered three strokes. His doctor told him he was lucky to be alive.
When he woke up, he received grim news.
“I don’t have any speech, I can’t walk - it’s a little bit jarring,” he said. “You have so many thoughts in your head, and you want to say things, and I couldn’t write fast enough.”
He couldn’t get going fast enough to regain the life he’d almost lost.
MacCredie was determined to get back to his family and his students.
“You can’t feel sad for yourself,” he said. “You have to work to get to where you want to be.”
MacCredie went home after a month in the hospital. While he was walking again, he was nowhere near his goal.
He was attached to a suction device and required suctioning every couple of minutes to manage saliva buildup. He also could not articulate words and struggled with breath control. All from his stroke.
“The first thing I focused on was his swallowing,” said Esther Verbovszky, a speech pathologist at Cleveland Feeding and Swallowing Center, LLC.
Verbovszky said her approach is unique to each patient’s needs.
For MacCredie, she said the plan included using a non-invasive electrical stimulation on his throat, called VitalStim, to strengthen his swallowing muscles.
“Also, it gives feedback to the brain,” she said. “Sometimes the brain forgets to swallow (after an injury like a stroke).”
She also used IOPI to enhance tongue strength and breather exercises to improve respiratory function.
After about three weeks, MacCredie swallowed and ate solid foods. He couldn’t wait for pizza.
Verbovszky and MacCredie then got to work on his speech, again using VitalStim along with other methods, including LSVT exercises and music therapy.
“The brain controls different parts, and so we were able to get his speech back better while singing it,” she explained.
After 89 sessions together, MacCredie had reached his therapy goal of getting strong enough to return to teaching in the classroom.
He could swallow again and no longer needed a suction device to remove saliva from his mouth. He could eat solid foods again. He had regained his breath support and speech ability, although he said he still has progress to make.
“He was definitely invested,” said Verbovszky. “That makes a huge difference in therapy. You have to do the work. I can’t do it for you. I can only guide you.”
Verbovszky also said hope is critical for patients in their road to recovery and healing, both physically and emotionally.
“I think people have to continue hoping that anything is possible,” she smiled. “I truly believe that is true and so important.”
MacCredie said he wouldn’t have reached his goal of returning to the classroom without Verbovszky.
You see, MacCredie’s health insurance policy didn’t cover speech and swallow therapies.
However, an insurance representative reached out to Verbovszky on MacCredie’s behalf, asking if she could take him on as a client through the Star Center Foundation, which Verbovszky created a few years ago to help people like MacCredie, who fall through the cracks with their insurance coverage.
“Seeing patients improve is just a real gift,” she said.
And she encouraged people not to lose hope and to know that there is a lot of support and methods available to help them recover from a medical crisis.
“It takes a village to help someone come back to where they need to be,” said Verbovszky.
Speaking of that village, meet Mark, MacCredie’s neighbor who helped drive him to and from his speech and swallowing therapies that were an hour away in Westlake.
And MacCredie’s school district; his fellow teachers donated sick days during his extended medical leave.
“Definitely wanted to have him back as a teacher,” said Sean Conway, principal at Madison Comprehensive High School. “Becky and Ryan and their family became part of Madison.”
Conway said the staff rallied together upon the news of MacCredie’s medical emergency and, within minutes, had more than enough days donated.
He said it reaffirms everything he believes about Madison being an amazing community and is representative of MacCredie’s impact on the staff and student body.
“He’s an inspiring story, a heroic story for our students to follow,” said Conway. “He’s a walking example of overcoming adversity and persevering through whatever difficult situation life throws at you and still providing an awesome experience for our students.”
MacCredie said God is good.
“Yes, all the time,” he said.
He wants to share the blessings he’s been shown with others, including his students.
“And see that any disability is OK and that they can do great art,” he said.
Teaching is now MacCredie’s therapy in more ways than one.
And his journey shows how the kindness of others can help balance out the chaos of life-- creating a well-composed work in progress, a masterpiece that’s still being pieced together.
“Still being worked on, yes,” said MacCredie about his road to recovery.
He said he’s been told it can take three years to heal and recover from his stroke.
MacCredie encourages people not to crack their necks. Instead, he now does stretches when he feels the urge to crack his neck.
