Eitan Ashman overcomes aphasia to make his voice heard 

By Leora Ashman, as told to Sandy Eller

When Eitan Ashman suffered a massive stroke, he lost his powers of speech almost entirely. Step by excruciating step, he moved forward, relearning basic skills and recapturing his drive and sense of purpose. Together with his wife Leora, he’s become a champion and resource for fellow sufferers of aphasia. The words may no longer come easily, but Eitan has once again found his voice

IT was a Shabbat in our home in Efrat like so many others, and in retrospect, the only sign of anything wrong was that my husband Eitan had a headache. But it wasn’t enough to keep him from teaching his Motzaei Shabbat CrossFit class, or from working in his home office before we headed up north with the kids the next day. Eitan was still at his computer when I went to sleep, but at about 4 a.m. I was suddenly awakened by the sound of chairs scraping the kitchen floor. At first, I thought it must be one of the dogs, but when I realized Eitan still hadn’t come upstairs, I went down to see what was going on.

You can’t imagine what it’s like to find your husband collapsed on the floor, completely unresponsive, with his eyes wide open. I dialed Magen David Adom, and they arrived within minutes. The paramedics told me they suspected Eitan had suffered a stroke, but I couldn’t comprehend what they were saying. Eitan was 42 years old and the picture of health — in addition to being the owner of a growing property management business, he was a CrossFit instructor, a senior volunteer paramedic, and a driver for Magen David Adom. He had completed multiple daf yomi cycles and gave regular shiurim, but in the blink of an eye, our lives turned completely upside down.

The doctors at Hadassah Ein Kerem delivered the awful news: Eitan had suffered a massive left-side ischemic stroke, with two major blood clots cutting off circulation to his brain, as well as a torn carotid artery. The medical team that performed the lengthy surgery to repair his artery saw that he had sustained extensive damage to the left hemisphere of his brain.

At first, doctors weren’t even sure Eitan would survive, but he was a fighter — and he still is. The first few weeks in the ICU were incredibly difficult as we tried to come to terms with what had happened and to figure out what the long-term effects of this massive trauma would be.