Sometimes the most inspirational person could be standing right next to you but you’d never know it until you hear their story. Three years ago, Damon Mone could only say two words: ‘water’ and ‘no.’ Today, he’s reading novels, earning his black belt in karate, and proving that determination can rewrite any diagnosis. This is Damon’s story.
Damon suffered from a cerebrovascular accident three years ago. After the incident, he could no longer speak or read the written language. Thinking felt difficult. With the diagnosis of both apraxia and expressive aphasia, the only two words he could utter were “water” and “no.” Apraxia affects the motor planning in the lips and tongue related to the movement of speaking, while expressive aphasia is the partial loss of the ability to form words together to speak in sentences. Damon spent one month in Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital-Westborough’s IRF unit (inpatient acute rehabilitation facility) before returning to us for outpatient rehabilitation.
For six to seven months, his speech therapist worked on word naming with Damon. Using picture cards, he named the object shown to him. This progressed to identifying a single action by stringing words together. Damon began reading single words. He then advanced to sentences, a paragraph, a short story, a novella and now novels. He works so hard while participating in speech therapy daily, with three of those days at Whittier. He completes speech homework, such as writing emails, sentences, texts, and journal entries.
Damon attends a zoom meeting at Boston University’s Aphasia Resource Center in both the Fall and Spring called Talk of the Town! for those who have aphasia. He also participates in an aphasia group at Whittier once a week with others who have a similar diagnosis. He puts an extensive amount of effort into his physical recovery as well. Karate is an important sport to Damon. Before his stroke, he had earned a brown belt. Initially, after Damon’s stroke, a neurologist informed him that he would not be able to participate in karate for at least a year. What happened next is incredible. He forged ahead, defied the odds, and was able to continue with karate only two months after the stroke. He went from being told that he wouldn’t be able to participate in karate for at least a year, to earning his black belt almost one year to the day from when he had his stroke!
We recently caught up with Damon. When we entered the room the day of the interview, Damon and two people – Whittier speech and language therapist Lauren Guenon Farrar, and a speech student named Jordan – were discussing John Grisham’s novel The Client. The three of them shared their thoughts and theories on the plot. Damon began his post-stroke journey unable to read or speak, and now he is reading 16-17 pages a day and discussing a novel!
We asked Damon how he felt during the entire stroke recovery. He said he felt, “frustrated but kept going.” This determination to keep going shows the strength that resides within him. When asked about his progress with the question, “Did you think you would be where you are today?” He nodded yes. He then quoted Stephen King’s story Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, saying, “Get busy living, or get busy dying.” If there is anyone who persists and doesn’t give up, it’s Damon. His goals now are to work on writing and to get back to work as a Director of Product Management.
Damon credits his speech and language therapist Lauren and the speech students Jordan, Olivia, Rachel, Carlos and Kayleigh for assisting him on his recovery journey. Damon went from reading one paragraph a day of The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, in tandem with his wife, to reading whole novels by himself. To date, Damon has ten books under his belt, three of which he has read completely on his own. Damon spoke about how Lauren has been an amazing, major teacher in his life. Due to her guidance, he feels that he has come a long way. He mentioned the huge improvement in his speech, recalling how he could only say, “…water and that’s it. Look at me now.”
Yes, look at you now, Damon! Your hope, dedication and persistence are motivating. Hearing your story is a reminder to us all to never, ever give up.
