Mr. Neale's Recovery

On an afternoon in February, tenth and eleventh-grade English teacher Mr. Neale left for work. When he got to the bus stop near his home, he knew something was really wrong. He called his wife and told her “Something’s really wrong. You need to come now.” When she got there, he was on the ground, having a stroke. His wife called 911 and Mr. Neale was rushed to the hospital.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a stroke can take up to a few years to recover from. However, Mr. Neale was back within months after his hospitalization. He didn’t have a miraculous recovery, and most definitely is still feeling the effects of this major life event.

Mr. Neale explained his recovery process by stating the not-so-obvious: recovery is slow. “It’s just harder than I thought it would be.” Mr. Neale’s stroke has caused him to have trouble going about everyday tasks. Physical challenges, like a left arm that is not fully functional, make it hard to do mundane things like pass out papers. Staying up long hours to grade student writing and talking to his students all day has become exhausting. Even entering Masterman though the side door presents problems: it has no windows and people are opening and closing it constantly, so Mr. Neale has trouble knowing when it might swing open.

Mr. Neale has not only been affected physically; he also feels some mental changes. He believes that his stroke has led him to be a less tolerant person: “My patience is greatly diminished, and I don’t think I’m as good of a parent or a teacher.” His son, Luke Neale (9-3), says that “He is keeping his spirits up at school, but at home, life is definitely hard for him.”