Honestly, I’m not a fan of Luke Perry’s. I don’t dislike him at all – I’m just not too familiar, I’ve never watched anything he was in. But the story of his passing hits home anyway.

My closest (in proximity) co-worker (who was about same age as Luke Perry) at my previous job had a stroke right behind me. He started looking peaked and was just sitting there. I asked him if he was OK, he said “No”.  I offered to call 911, but he said not to. He was a superior to me, so I (stupidly) followed his wishes. I kept asking if he was OK, and offering to call for help, but I was also getting phone calls right and left from customers that I was attending to. After about 10-15 minutes of him still looking bad and getting worse, I finally called over the operations manager and told her that we HAVE to do something, even if it’s against his wishes.

She ended up driving him to urgent care, because he refused the offer of an ambulance. It turns out he had a mild stroke. He was out of work for 3-4 months. In the mean time, I had switched jobs, so I only saw him briefly, but he said now he walks with a bit of a limp and he has some cognitive and physical delays.

Lesson:  if you don’t feel OK, and you know something is wrong – then get help. My co-worker was lucky to not be in worse condition, or dead to be honest.

Keep reading for symptoms to watch for from the Mayo Clinic:

Muscular: difficulty walking, instability, paralysis with weak muscles, problems with coordination, stiff muscles, overactive reflexes, or paralysis of one side of the body

Visual: blurred vision, double vision, sudden visual loss, or temporary loss of vision in one eye

Whole body: fatigue, light-headedness, or vertigo

Speech: difficulty speaking, slurred speech, or speech loss

Sensory: pins and needles or reduced sensation of touch

Facial: muscle weakness or numbness

Limbs: numbness or weakness

Also common: difficulty swallowing, headache, inability to understand, mental confusion, or rapid involuntary eye movement

Click HERE to read more from the Mayo Clinic on strokes