Surviving Stroke – A Family Journey

Posted by Danielle Bussone on Mar 16, 2014 in Living Plant-Strong! Profiles & Articles | 1 comment

Much has been learned in the past decade about the plasticity of the brain, its ability to adapt in the event of the trauma or actual death of brain cells.  Permanent loss of function is no longer the fate of people who have suffered a stroke.  Sometimes, as in this case, stroke happens when you are doing everything right. Our staff writer, Pegge Bochynski, shares with us her family’s touching personal journey following her sister’s stroke when she was in the prime of her life. Pegge interviews her sister about her life after stroke in this inspiring Youtube video. If you have a friend or family member who has had a stroke, Martha’s Story may be something you’ll want to share.  

http://youtu.be/7F8W6z2cJrw

by Pegge Bochynski

Martha: Stroke Survivor

On July 17, 2006, my sister, Martha, had a severe stroke. She was 51 at the time. When my husband and I arrived at the ER, she lay on a gurney, unable to speak or move. We were to learn firsthand that when a stroke happens to an individual, it happens to the entire family as well. Martha’s traumatic brain injury was a turning point in all our lives—including Martha’s college-age daughter; my elderly parents; my other sister and her husband; and my husband, Kevin, and me.

Pegge Bochynski and her sister, Martha, (in blue) six years after her massive stroke.

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GO VEG 2014 – Vegan Boxing Champion, Omowale Adewale, Challenges Us To GO VEGAN!

Posted by Danielle Bussone on Dec 30, 2013 in Living Plant-Strong! Profiles & Articles | 0 comments

by Danielle Bussone

The new year offers a clean slate and opportunities to create a healthier new beginning. Super Middleweight Boxing Champion, Omowale Adewale has created a vegan challenge to help us do just that. He is challenging 100 people to go vegan for a year, in an effort he calls GoVeg 2014. He offers himself as a guide through the labyrinth of choices we can expect in so dramatically changing one’s diet, as well as fitness guidance to get us living as healthy and energetic a lifestyle as possible. The challenge begins on New Year’s Day. Omowale is generously offering his expertise as an athlete and a vegan for free for the year, 2014, according to the needs of the participants.

Omowale Adéwale (Wale)
Champion Super Middleweight Boxer

About Omowale Adewale

Omowale Adewale, or Wale for short, was given his name from a friend, Moyosore who passed away in 2007 after his first African trip to Nigeria. The name Omowale means “The son has come back home,” and Adewale means, “The crown has returned.”

Wale became vegetarian when he was 15 before becoming involved in competitive sports.  Omowale began sports competition in high school and was a collegiate 2-gold champion. He also taught himself Jeet Kune Do, a form of martial arts. Omowale was a NABBA finalist (National Association of Body Building of America) in 1997. In 2012, he became Super Middleweight Champion in the Brooklyn Brawl. He became vegetarian for health reasons, wanting to become as fit and strong as possible. It wasn’t until early last year that Wale took the plunge and cut out animal products entirely.

“I became vegan because it makes no sense to slaughter animals for consumption or to wear as clothing. I sense that is a better way of life,” says Wale. “There are a lot of vegetarian people out there who realize they are not in need of eggs or milk products from animals. I prepare my own foods utilizing substitutes for dairy and eggs.”

Wale (Central Figure0

It is not surprising given the amount of scientific data now available which links milk and egg consumption to cancers, allergies, heart disease and numerous other ailments that Wale found himself naturally moving away from these items to include healthier whole foods with plenty of fiber and nutrition in his diet.

Omowale has three children who are vegetarian. Their mom is pescatarian, she eats fish, and the children are vegetarian. They will also be taking the vegan challenge. Family, friends new friends, anybody.

Omowale’s Children From Left to Right
Aziza, Rayne and Chisore entertaining themselves while waiting for the audience to begin arriving.

Why a Vegan Challenge? 

“When I first became vegetarian, I pretty much ate the same things all the time because I didn’t have anyone to teach me, I didn’t have a guide to teach me what to eat, how to cook and that sort of thing. My participants will also want to know what to do in terms of fitness. They will have general questions like, what are the best times to eat certain types of meals or what foods have a sufficient amount of protein or iron. People worry about getting adequate protein on a vegan diet.

I want to get people talking about their experiences. We are looking at evaluating our participants after the first month.  What are the main questions coming up?  A month gives people a sense that they can actually do this, that they are able to make these meals. They are really easy for the most part. I want to see people still on it after a month and I want to monitor people from week to week and they can contact me as often as they need to. They may have to wait 24-48 hours for a reply depending on the final number of people who sign on, but I will get back to them as soon as possible.

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