It was the last school day before the Christmas break and Joan Maloney was loath to call in sick.
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But the educational assistant at McKinnon Park Secondary School in Caledonia was feeling off.
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“I phoned in and said, ‘I’m not sure I’m going to make it,’” Maloney recalled.
“I didn’t realize I was having a stroke.”
McKinnon Park vice-principal Adriana Potichnyj suspected otherwise after hearing Maloney’s slurred speech over the phone, and finding her unable to follow the conversation or answer basic questions.
Potichnyj was more than half an hour’s drive from Maloney’s Waterford home — too far away to help.
But she knew someone who could.
She called her counterpart at Waterford District High School and explained the situation. Minutes later, Waterford vice-principal David Gervais and principal Pamela O’Halloran were at Maloney’s door.
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“I was surprised. I thought, ‘Why are they here?’” Maloney told the Spectator.
Gervais took one look at Maloney’s drooping face and called for an ambulance.
“Apparently it was obvious I was having a stroke, but I couldn’t see it,” Maloney said.
O’Halloran found a phone number for Maloney’s daughter, Kate, and alerted her that her mom was headed to Norfolk General Hospital in Simcoe.
Maloney was quickly transferred to the stroke unit at Brantford General, where she spent the holidays and the first 10 days of the new year.
“I can’t say enough about the Brantford stroke unit. They’re phenomenal,” Maloney said.
“They know their stuff. It was great. I was there to work hard, and I did.”
Now recovering at home, Maloney said she is feeling well. She still has some issues with short-term memory loss and numbness, but is counting her blessings.
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“I realize how lucky I was, thanks to Adriana and Dave and Pam,” she said.
Kate Maloney shudders to think what might have happened had the three educators not gotten her mother — who was home alone at the time — the medical care she urgently needed.
“Our family is eternally grateful to the three of them. They did a phenomenal job,” Kate Maloney said.
Joan Maloney reunited with her “unsung heroes” at the Grand Erie District School Board’s Jan. 29 meeting in Brantford, where Potichnyj, Gervais and O’Halloran received awards in recognition of what director of education JoAnna Roberto called their “quick thinking, sound decision-making, wisdom and co-operation.”
“Thanks to these three exceptional leaders, this story has a happy ending,” Roberto said, adding the ordeal illustrates the importance of learning the signs of a stroke.
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The most common signs, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, are drooping facial muscles, slurred speech and being unable to raise both arms.
Other symptoms include blurred or double vision, balance problems, numbness on one side of the body, confusion and a sudden severe headache.
Anyone experiencing a suspected stroke should call 911 immediately, as paramedics will know the best hospital for stroke care.
Potichnyj said she and her colleagues did what any Grand Erie educator would do in a crisis — helped by a bit of luck.
“Everybody picked up their phones. That doesn’t always happen in a busy school,” Potichnyj said.
“The universe wanted Joan to stay with us, and she’s here.”
Maloney came out of retirement to fill in as an educational assistant at McKinnon Park in late 2022.
“I went for three days to Caledonia and ended up staying for a year,” she said. “I just love helping people.”
After an especially dramatic last day on the job, she plans to take it easy.
“I think at this point I’m going to stay retired,” she said with a laugh.
JP Antonacci is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter based at the Hamilton Spectator. The initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
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