Baptist Health Paducah to host Spokes for Strokes bike tour June 12

April 15, 2021

The bike tour offers 10-, 20-, 35- or 65-mile rides through southern McCracken, Marshall and Graves counties.

(Paducah, Ky.)  April 15, 2021 — Baptist Health Paducah will host its 10th Spokes for Strokes bike tour on Saturday, June 12, to raise stroke awareness, along with funds for life-saving technologies and expanded stroke care services. 

Spokes for Strokes will begin at 7 a.m. with registration at Baptist Health Imaging Center on the west end of campus at 2705 Kentucky Ave.; followed by the tour at 8 a.m. Registration at active.com is $25 for an individual, $40 for couples and $50 for a family for four.

The bike tour offers 10-, 20-, 35- or 65-mile rides through southern McCracken, Marshall and Graves counties. Support vehicles will follow all rides. Helmets are required.

Last year, Baptist Health Paducah celebrated 10 years as a leader in stroke care. The hospital became the region’s first certified primary stroke center in 2010, and remains the only local facility with 24/7 neurohospitalist and neurosurgery coverage.

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the U.S. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

The acronym B.E.F.A.S.T. is a good way to learn stroke symptoms.

  • B – Balance: Does the person have a sudden loss of balance?
  • E – Eyes: Has the person lost vision in one or both eyes?
  • F - Face Drooping: Does one side of the face droop or is it numb? Ask the person to smile.
  • A - Arm Weakness: Is one arm weak or numb? Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?
  • S - Speech Difficulty: Is speech slurred, are they unable to speak, or are they hard to understand?
  • T - Time to call 9-1-1: If the person shows any of these symptoms, even if the symptoms go away, call 9-1-1 and get them to the hospital immediately.

Additional stroke signs include sudden severe headache with no known cause or sudden confusion or trouble understanding.

For more information about Spokes for Strokes, phone 270.575.2871